Shattered Mind

Shattered Mind
 WARNING: THIS STORY WILL CONTAIN GRAPHIC VIOLENCE AND MILD GORE. PLEASE DO NOT VIEW THIS STORY IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO SAID TOPICS. 
i’m semi-consistently updating again after much procrastination so (for now) you can read this without dying on cliffhangers for months
there will be new tribe art/guides soon since i yeeted the old art but for now just. figure it out
the chapter povs are weird don’t judge me tho
==Chapter 1==
A pitch-black dragon sat by a lake in a dark forest near the Kingdom of Sky, her indigo eyes downcast as she stared at the rippling pool.
Tonight. Tonight. Tonight. The night-dragon’s mind sang, Tonight, I’ll make them all pay.
A rustle of leaves interrupted Moonstone’s thoughts, she glanced up at the approaching dragon.
“Volcano,” Moonstone said, turning to face the Fire-type, “Your message?”
She noticed the faintly-glowing muzzle of energy around Volcano’s snout, rolling her eyes, she walked over, eyes glowing, and the muzzle came free, clattering lightly to the ground.
Volcano’s eyes filled with relief, and then fear took over his face again. Moonstone felt a small stab of pity for the dragon, but knew it was for the greater good.
“Th- they’re ready to start.” The jittery messenger said, slipping into a quick bow.
“I see,” Moonstone replied, unable to stop a smile from slipping onto her face, “Go, tell the others I will arrive shortly.”
Volcano nodded reluctantly, he lowered his muzzle, eyes downcast.
Moonstone smiled pleasantly, her eyes glowed, and she levitated the Volcano’s muzzle off the ground, onto his snout as it clamped shut.
This was the protocol for the messengers of Emperors of Gold; they’d been imprisoned for the benefit of the group, so they couldn’t have them running off to tell some dragon about the secret underground group.
Volcano was already walking off, his body seemed to fade as he walked, the invisibility enchantment coming into effect.
Moonstone followed swiftly, rising into the air with her wings spread wide as she soared across the stars, her black scales camouflaged across the dark sky.
She glided down to another section of the forest, angling her wings to avoid the brown trees, her talons thumped lightly as she landed on the soft dirt.
There was a small, round slab of rock near one of the trees, it could be easily mistaken for a normal rock by most dragons. . . Unless you knew what to look for.
Moonstone’s eyes glowed again. She tapped her claws on several places on the slab, and then waited, her eyes still shining with magic and energy.
Instantly, glowing white lines formed connections between all the spots Moonstone had tapped, forming an intricate pattern of stars and strange symbols.
And then. . . The slab moved, it lifted itself, revealing a withered patch of black dirt and ash underneath.
Moonstone pressed her talon against the strange patch of ground, and it disappeared, forming a gaping hole where it had once been.
She tucked her wings in and dove into the hole, keeping the glow of her own eyes as a lone light source, she heard the sound of grinding stone, and the sliver of moonlight that had slipped into the tunnel disappeared, closed off from the narrow hole.
The tight walls of the tunnel vanished, a wide, circular stone room lit by dim candles opened up around Moonstone, and she landed on the dark floor.
Around her, strange creatures kept in glass bottles, magical treasures, and eerie potions sat on wooden shelves, four entrances to other rooms sat across from each other, each with a sign above the doorway.
But none of this compared to the main centrepiece of the room; a dark obsidian statue of a menacing dragon that didn’t seem to belong to any type, casting her shadow over the room with her wings spread wide, a malicious grin on her face and a dagger in her claw, lines of powders and circles of strange, fizzing liquid surrounded the statue, sparking occasionally.
Other dragons in the room turned to face Moonstone as she entered, bowing or nodding respectfully, Moonstone saw eagerness awaiting in each of their eyes, these dragons were ready.
Moon smirked lightly, then raised her voice for all to hear, “Dragons,” she said, striding to forward toward the pedestal and flaring one wing toward the obsidian statue,
”You’ve waited, we’ve all waited, we’ve hidden ourselves from Wyvern spies, we’ve worked so, so hard so that no one would find us, and we worked even harder to bring this moment to life.“
“Justice and peace have been our greatest goals for a long time. Soon, the world will be free from the tyrannical grasp of our corrupted royalty, soon, all the nations shall thrive.”
“Because in this very fortress, where we stand in this very moment, all our dreams will come true. . . The empire we’ve strived for will truly exist. Tonight, we summon Nightshade.”
There was a round of applause from the gathered dragons, and Moonstone grinned, “Now, prepare yourselves, for tonight, right now, WE CAST OUR SPELL ACROSS THIS WORLD!” She roared. 
Her eyes glowed brighter than they ever had, spiralling beams of indigo energy swirling around her talons, the threads of magic flared and roared like fire, it uncoiled itself from Moonstone’s talons, and then suddenly lunged toward the statue like a snake, twisting around it tightly and wrapping it in a bright cocoon of blue light.
The eyes of the other dragons began to light up as well, although most not as bright, more threads of magic joined Moonstone’s, the encasement of magic brightening and swirling with new colours and energies every second, bathing the room in blinding, colourful light.
. . .And then there was a loud BANG, a roar of fury, and the unmistakable sound of stone cracking underneath heavy talons.
Moonstone turned around slowly, practically paralyzed with shock, and found herself face-to-face with the snarling Queen of the Wyverns. 
== Chapter 2==
”WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?” Moonstone shrieked, scrambling back from the enormous Wyvern, she rushed over to the statue, gaping.
All of the carefully-placed arcane powders, the potions spilled precisely in line with the runes of an ancient spell, all of the preperations. . . Were thrown out of place, scattered about like dandelion seeds.
”YOU- YOU FOOL!” She screamed hysterically, whirling toward the Wyvern Queen, her head suddenly snapped around, toward the other Emperors huddled in the corner.
”DO SOMETHING! FIX THE SPELL! FIX THE SPELL!” Moon cried, but she knew it was already too late, who knew what would happen to such a powerful spell, even if it had only been thrown out of place for a second?
Two loud bangs interrupted Moonstone’s thoughts, she whipped her head back toward the statue, two tendrils of green light were spiralling toward the statue, and then she saw the glowing eyes of Queen Arch, Moon recognized the way the beams of magic moved and twisted toward it, A magic-dampening charm, followed by some kind of reveal spell. . . No. . WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!? She thought miserably.
”NO! STOP!” Moonstone said, lunging toward Queen Arch, she reached forward to rake her talons across the Queen’s neck, but the enormous Wyvern just whipped her head toward Moonstone, levitated her into the air, and slammed her into the statue.
Moon heard the statue begin to crack slightly behind the cocoon where she had been slammed so hard against it, her ribs felt broken and beaten, but she got up and scrambled away from the statue, trying not to put weight on the damaged obsidian.
And then there was another blinding flash, and in a moment, the strange cocoon of energy had vanished.
But what stood in its place was no longer a statue, a sleek, young-looking dragon, with pitch-black scales, dark red eyes, and sharp horns, Her wings seemed incomprehensibly dark, except for the edges, which were coated in red and blended smoothly into the black, her tail was spiked with two sharp black spines, and her claws were sharp and deadly, she looked the same as the statue she‘d been moments earlier, aside from the colours, but so much more real, and so much more dangerous.
Moonstone was enveloped with awe, she nearly forgot about the pain surging through her, nearly forgot about the furious Queen behind her, “Nightshade. . .” Moonstone breathed, “You’ve finally awoken. . .” And you’re perfect.
”Master,” Nightshade replied, flicking her tail back and forth, her voice seemed hollow, cold, wrong, but with an air of respect and curiosity, Just like I’ve always imagined. Moon couldn’t stop herself from thinking.
“What are your orders?” the young black dragoness asked Moonstone, Moonstone felt a grin slipping onto her face.
She turned toward Queen Arch, grinning maliciously
”Kill her.”
== Chapter 3==
“Fools,” Queen Arch hissed, eyes glowing as she glared at Moonstone at Nightshade.
A sparkling, semi-transparent green barrier went up around the Wyvern Queen as Nightshade charged toward her, not stopping when she saw the shield.
a dark purple dagger seemed to materialize in Nightshade’s hand, and she stabbed it toward the barrier.
with any normal dragon, Moon would have expected the dagger to not leave a dent, Queen Arch was among the strongest Mages alive, an energy dagger shouldn’t have done anything against a shield cast by someone like that.
But of course, a dragon made out of a spell was different.
Nightshade’s dagger just went straight through the barrier, shattering it to tiny pieces.
Queen Arch seemed to freeze, gaping at the shattered shards of magic energy that had been her own shield, and Nightshade immediately grabbed the opportunity, she jumped up to Queen Arch, digging her back claws into the Queen’s shoulders enough that she screamed and went limp for a moment, allowing Nightshade to pin her down.
Moonstone watched it all, watched as Nightshade raised her dagger as it caught the candlelight, thrust it downward just inches from the Queen’s heart. . .
And stopped.
”Well?” Moonstone growled, “Kill her! I gave you an order.”
Nightshade glanced back at her, than looked away quickly, hiding her face.
”Master. . . I am loyal, I will listen to every word you say, I will. . . I will always obey you.” She began, “But. . Could there be another way? We could lock her up. . . Torture her for information. . . I just don’t feel like we should kill her, not right now.“
Moonstone gave Nightshade a strange look, Empathy. . . But that’s impossible, Nightshade can’t feel empathy. . . Surely the spell interruption didn‘t. . . Moon thought
”Very well,“ Moonstone said, “I suppose she could be useful. . . But mark my words, You will follow my orders next time. I am your master.” She hissed, “Put her in one of the messenger cages.”
Nightshade nodded, looking pleased, she grabbed Queen Arch not-so-gently, dragged her over with incredible strength, and shoved the Queen into an open cage.
Moonstone noticed the way Nightshade’s claws had seemed to purposely dig into the Queen’s scales, drawing bright red blood, She’s still herself. . . The interruption must have just dampened her nature. Moonstone thought, relieved.
”You’ll pay for this,” Queen Arch snarled coldly through the bars, her emerald green eyes full of rage, “The Wyvern Kingdom will not stand by and let that creature walk among us. I will escape this prison.”
”Not likely, your majesty.” Moonstone taunted, before turning back to Nightshade, “Go, start your mission, destroy them all.”
Nightshade nodded, Flying out through the giant cracked hole Queen Arch had left in the roof and into the night sky, ready to spill blood.
== Chapter 4==
Nightshade had no clue what she was doing.
She was still thinking about what had happened with the Wyvern Queen just moments earlier, she had no idea why she’d done what she did. . . Her mission was to kill. That was her life, that was her purpose, even if she knew she’d just fade away once she’d served her masters enough, that was her goal, that was why she was created.
So why, oh, why, had she hesitated?
Surely it was just like she’d said to her master: torture the Queen for information on how to infiltrate the palace, Nothing else. It was ridiculous that she was questioning her own reason for doing something.
But her mind just kept flashing back to that moment. . . The fear in Queen Arch’s face as Nightshade raised her dagger, the realization in her eyes that this might truly be the end, the regret, determination, the pain and final resignation as the Queen shut her eyes and lay her head limply to the side, knowing the oblivion was coming. . . Nightshade wondered if she’d be able to kill any dragon like that.
She shook her head, what was she thinking? Master Moonstone would probably just hang her and redo the spell if she knew what was going on in Nightshade’s head.
Which led her back to the insanity that she was planning.
She hissed to herself, this was stupid, this was strange, and this was, in Nightshade’s opinion of herself, unnatural.
Yet she was still doing it.
Nightshade continued flying straight for a while, knowing Moonstone would be watching her go.
Soon, she paused, glancing back at the enormous hole that Queen Arch had taken out of the roof of their underground fortress, from what she could see, Moonstone had turned her attention to something else, and seemed to be levitating a cage.
Taking Arch to the dungeons. Nightshade thought, just knowing it was true.
She suddenly swerved in the air, going downward toward the hole, but as she neared it, she turned again, aiming to land beside it where she’d be out of sight.
Night’s talons thumped softly on the ground, and she began to walk in a different direction.
She concentrated, eyes glowing, and a thin, frail tendril of glowing red light formed between her talons.
The tiny tendril of energy reached itself toward the earth, and it began to burn lightly through the ground, Nightshade held her breath, trying to make the beam as unnoticeable as possible, although it was difficult to have to be so intricate.
There were much easier ways to do this with normal magic, but of course, Nightshade was meant to be a soldier, nothing more, she couldn’t cast spells like that.
You shouldn’t want to. Whispered a tiny fragment of Nightshade’s brain, If you can’t do it, you shouldn’t want to. This is not your purpose.
Nightshade tried to ignore that little voice at the back of her mind, but she couldn’t help feeling awful, this was traitorous! She was throwing the valuable trust of her masters into the dust! This was defying her very purpose in life.
She shut her eyes, burying her face in her talons.
The small beam of magic was thrown off by Nightshade’s sudden motion, and Night yelped as the tendril wobbled sideways, forming a wider gap than Nightshade meant for.
She peeked through the gap frantically, trying to see if Moonstone had noticed.
In the fortress, Moonstone seemed to be having a threatening conversation with Queen Arch, who had been transported into a new cell, she hadn’t seemed to acknowledge the sliver of moonlight slipping into the hallway, or the eye watching her. . .
Nightshade watched as her master finished speaking with Queen Arch, turned and strutted out of the dungeons and her tail vanished from sight.
Nightshade waited in tense silence for what seemed like hours.
And then. . . She blasted a hole through the ground as quietly as she could, levitating the fallen debris mid-air to prevent them from banging too hard on the ground as she dove through.
Arch’s pale green scales shifted as Nightshade landed, and a growl released itself from the Queen’s throat, “So she summoned her pet back,” She hissed, drawing her neck back regally, “What are you here to do to me? Torture me? Well, you aren’t going to get anything out of it, I won’t—“
”Stop. Just stop,” Nightshade snarled, “Unless you want me to change my mind, so listen here, I’m here to break you out.”
==Chapter 5==
Once Nightshade had removed the anti-magic cuffs around Queen Arch’s talons—strange bindings that prevented the wearer from casting spells—it was easy enough to get her out of her cell.
And Arch had been both extremely distrustful, extremely ungrateful, and extremely judgemental during the process.
”I’ll do it myself, monster.” She’d snap every time Nightshade moved to help her out of her cell in some way, and every time, Night would roll her eyes, curse under her breath, and step aside.
It was due to this that it had taken an uncomfortably long time to get her out, and every minute, Nightshade had felt like walls were pressing in all around her, like any moment, Moonstone would storm through, see Nightshade, and scrap her entirely.
Until finally, it was done.
”Let’s go.” She hissed quietly to Queen Arch.
The Queen barked a hollow laugh.
”’let’s’?” She cried, seeming amused “Really, you honestly expected me to come with you? For a dragon with no feelings, you certainly expect a lot of respect that isn’t there.”
Anger raged through every bone in Nightshade’s body, “I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU!” She screamed, lunging at the Queen with talons outstretched as fiery rage burned fiercely in her eyes.
“I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU THE MOMENT I SAW YOU!” She screamed again, slashing viciously at Queen Arch’s throat.
But the enormous green Wyvern just dodged away with a hiss, snarling, “Foolish dragon.”
Her eyes glowed for the third time that night, and she shot a pulsing green blast of glowing magic.
The spell slammed into Nightshade like a boulder lit on fire, she staggered back in pain—But then the initial impact was gone. . . And she felt stronger. Faster. More dangerous.
Nightshade grinned maniacally, eyes glowing.
Queen Arch cursed under her breath, then did exactly what Nightshade would never have expected.
She charged toward Nightshade, claws outstretched—but her eyes looked. . . Normal. And decidedly not glowing.
Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt talons rake through her scales, shredding through her underbelly as she howled in pain, bright, sickening red blood dripping down her underscales and splattering onto her legs and tail.
Nightshade scowled dangerously, Ready to fight despite the pain as she prepared, for another attack on Arch, who she had found in front of her with her talons caked in blood. Nightshade’s blood.
Her eyes pulsed with red light as she prepared to strike at the Wyvern Queen’s eyes with her magic. . .
And then she saw a flash of green light, and she blacked out.
==Chapter 6==
Blood.
Blood everywhere. Blood on the walls. Blood on the floors. Blood all around her
A thousand claws scraping into her all at once.
Nightshade bolted awake, breathing heavily.
Bars surrounded her. Glowing, iridescent white bars. She was in a prison.
“NO!” Nightshade screamed furiously, scraping her claws against the walls, her eyes flashed with panic, pale and reflective in the white light.
“Oh, you’re awake.” Mused a voice from behind her. “About time, was afraid you’d sleep all day, what a wonderful assassin they made.”
Nightshade whirled around.
A wyvern was standing in front of her cage.
Her wings flared open, she hissed, thinking it was Queen Arch again.
But then she glanced over the wyvern again—it wasn’t. He wore the same type of golden collar Arch wore, but less covered in gems, and now that she looked, his scales weren’t quite the right shade of green—more of a teal colour.
”Who are you?” Nightshade hissed at the wyvern, scowling dangerously.
”Endisi. Prince Endisi, I suppose—And you,” The wyvern responded, smirking calmly, “Are a prisoner.”
Prince. So he’s another one of those spoiled, entitled royal brats. Nightshade thought scornfully, “What do you want with me?” She hissed.
”Straight to the point, I see.” Endisi said, looking even more amused than before. “I volunteered to come down here and watch you. My mother wanted to see you as soon as possible, so she needed someone to inform her when you woke up. Simple, but perhaps you wouldn’t understand.”
”Your mother.” Nightshade hissed, ignoring the prince’s arrogant tone, “The Queen.”
Endisi gave her an amused look, and then strode pleasantly out of the room without taking the time to answer her.
She sat in silence, scowling through the bars at empty air.
”You’ll pay for this, Arch.” She muttered to herself.
”You’ll pay for this.”
She sat that way for what seemed like hours, glowering at nothing but the floor beneath her feet, left with nothing but her own dark thoughts.
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎***
Murmering and clawsteps shook Nightshade out of her brooding trance, she perked her ears, still scowling.
“I’ll handle this one myself, Endisi. Thank you for informing me.” Said the deep voice of the Wyvern Queen, her tone was stern, but kind, almost unfamiliar to Nightshade.
“Of course, mother. I will leave.” Came the smug voice of the Wyvern Prince, more clawsteps followed, but she soon realized it wasn’t just Endisi. Someone was coming towards her.
The slender shape of Queen Arch rounded a corner and sat down in front of her cell, her eyes furious slits.
“About time. Thought your little errand boy would take all day to find you. . . So what do you want with me?” Nightshade said.
“Hold your tongue, and remember that you’re the prisoner here. I simply want you to answer a few questions.” Arch replied, clearly holding back on everything she wanted to say.
“Ah, but is that true?” Nightshade asked, “I thought perhaps you’d want to torture me, kill me, perhaps, hurt me as much as I’d like to hurt you. You know I’m not real, but you’d never lay a claw on anything that even looks like a dragon. You’re just too—”
“Quiet, you disgusting creature. You know very well that’s not true. Quite a bold stance for someone with a hole in them.”
Nightshade stayed silent.
“Good. All of this is useless. . .” Arch muttered, seeming to be reminding herself more than Nightshade, “Alright. What are you and what did they make you for?”
“No point telling you, you’ll find out soon enough.” Nightshade responded vaguely.
“Tell me.” Arch said, “Or I will hurt you.” She unsheathed her claws, eyes glowing with green light.
Nightshade gulped silently, wondering why she feared the Queen. “Fine. I’ll tell you that much.” Nightshade said reluctantly, This isn’t treason. . She might kill me if I don’t say it, I’m just making sure I’ll serve my purpose.
“I am an assassin. My masters tell me who to go after, and I obey them. It’s 
simple, you’ve already figured it out.” Nightshade said.
“That’s all?” Arch said. “No specific types of dragons?”
“Yes.” Nightshade lied.
Arch looked suspicious, but nodded, “How much power do you have? Answer carefully.”
Nightshade was bored. This was beginning to feel like a quiz for children, “Right now? Hardly any.” Nightshade answered, not bothering to explain. “You’re terrible at this interrogation thing, by the way.”
wip
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