Little Lost Things; The Repository Anthology

## Chapter 1

"C'mon, Killprotector!" Shinguard shouted at them. They turned towards her, smiling and launching into the air. Her scarlet scales under her wings glowed with ice. Yes, she was a frostscales, but they didn't care. They flew the long way to the volcano, mostly in silence and just enjoying each other's presence. Killprotector finally spoke up.

"... It looks like a storm is coming." They observed. Shin looked at the dark clouds over the horizon before shaking her head. "It's far off- We'll make it there by then." She reassured them.

"I heard that thunderstorms are attracted by volcanic activity," Killprotector continued to worry. "Are you *sure* this is safe?"

Shin rolled her eyes at them. "Goodness, you're a worrywart. Just enjoy the moment. For once? Moons above, you're more like Fathom than I thought..." They bit onto their tongue, willing themselves not to speak. She keeps talking about Fathom, but he died over two thousand years ago. She pronounces him as they had just met and that they were friends. But then how was she here? They glanced at her shoulder, looking at the lowercase G 'tail' spinning around and almost touching where it started, ending just short of that before looking away. They were silent the rest of the way there, and when they landed(finally, their wings felt like they were about to fall off), they noticed Shin looking uncomfortable, to say the least. They moved over to comfort her, then stopped.

"Are you okay-" THey started to say, but were almost immediately cut off by her.

"We need to move. C'mon, I know of a place near here that will shield us from the attack." Shinguard said, adding to their suspicions but also their worries.

"Wha- AtTaCk?!" Killprotector exclaimed, in distress. They followed her at an even pace to keep up. Either she didn't hear them or ignored them.

"What attack!??" Killprotector continued to insist.

"... The attack of my ancestors." Shin complied. It took them a good two minutes to figure out what in the two continents she was talking about.

A stunned and frantic "... WHAT!?!" Was all they managed to scream before she took them into a tunnel and closed the hatch. She grabbed something metal and pulled down on it, revealing something that looked clean. Blinking, they looked at the oblong object making the light. They tilted their head, curious. They raised their claws to it, but it burned and they winced, closing and opening their talons to get rid of the feeling. Looking around at the rest of the place, it was completely white with breaks in the walls, letting some kind of hard material through.

"Whoa... What is this place?" Killprotector asked her, completely in awe.

She shushed them and she turned off the light, revealing a red light on the large metal disk he hadn't seen before. Too interested as to what Shin was seeing to even worry about the little fire(What *is* this place?), he looked outside as well.

Four dragons without front legs landed, using their huge wings to balance themselves. They'd seen these before- Wyverns. But never like these. These wyverns had feathered crests and two wing claws on their first wing joint. The first held one short wing joint, but the second had two extremely long ones. *That must be how they fly, then.* They thought to themselves. Stranger still, they didn't have any wing claws. Weird. Stranger still, it didn't have any teeth. Their scales looked like they were peeling off from the heat, but they didn't seem to mind. Their tails looked like an IceWing's- It had two tail spikes on each side. The first pair moved away from the tail, and the second moved into it. It created something that looked like a leaf, and skin connected the pairs. They looked rusted and sand crusted- A new tribe of dragons from the Sand Kingdom, perhaps? One of them began talking to another.

"Like Junipero. Jung kill nun." One hissed. Whatever it said, the one it was talking to looked offended.

"Lo hun gigi kill!... Jung *iffy* kill nun... Jung iffy."

The first one shook their head and made some motions with their tail. The second one regrettably followed, as did the others. What happened next shocked them. They went into the lava without any hesitation. Shin clamped their mouth shut so that they couldn't scream. They waited like that for a few minutes, they were sure- But when she released her grasp, it felt like hours.

They took in a sharp inhale and screamed at her. Unintelligible at first, Shinguard patiently waiting until they regained control of themselves.

"What. Is that." Killprotector muttered, shaking and feeling dizzy. Everything was happening all at once, too quickly. "I- What is this."

"Calm down-" Shin tried, but she was immediately shut down.

"No! You- You are going to tell me what in the world is going on! Are- Are those your 'ancestors'?" Kill asked her.

"I- No!"

"WHat- Okay. WHY DID YOU TELL ME THEY WERE YOUR ANCESTORS, THEN?!"

"..." SHe stayed quiet, looking down. They tilted their head as she unlocked the large metal disk and let herself out. Killprotector followed her.

"... Why?!" She sighed.

"I got it wrong." She provided. Killprotector bit their tongue. *Moons help me...*

"Got *what* wrong?"

"The attack. Those were from the Scorched Tribe. They want the Sand Kingdom for themselves-"

"This seems... Cliche." She turned towards them. "What do want me to say?" She asked them but didn't wait for an answer. "Do you want me to say that the stars are dragons that have passed!? No, Kill! They are worlds above us- Some literally- that can do that! If they have the technology to do go through *literal lava,* then they can most certainly bring parts of their world here. And to be honest, I don't want to burn to the ground and become a mixture of wax and paste." She spat at them. Without another word, she flew off to the tunnel. Blinking rapidly, Killprotetor followed her through the tunnel, knowing better than to keep talking.

When they were almost back at the RainWing village, Shinguard turned to them. "Not a word." She turned back and kept walking. They felt fearful of the dragonet he'd known for five years now. They brought their golden-tipped wings to themselves and kept following her, chills prancing up and down their spine.

The silence of the jungle slowly turned to the chattering of RainWings thankful for their queen and NightWings pretending to plot to kill her. They shivered. The sounds that once comforted them now held a sense of melancholy and fear.

As if something to shape the continents lied in his friend.

To

Be

Destroyed...

## Chapter 2

Killprotector walked through the rainforest, shivering slightly. Why had it gotten so cold all of a sudden? It was like a current from the Ice Kingdom swept over Queen Glory's kingdom, and it filled them with an overlying sense of dread. They looked at Shinguard, and she looked like she was in pain. She didn't show it, however- What was she hiding?

They replayed the recent events that had happened through their head over and over again. It didn't make sense. Wyverns walking through lava, new languages being revealed, Shinguard *knowing* this was going to happen? Did she bring them there intentionally? How many lies had she told them? A hiss brought them back to reality.

Blinking, they backed up from a large NightWing sitting in front of the tent that held Queen Glory. They seemed like they were in a bad mood- All NightWings were, in their opinion.

"What. Do you want." He growled at the two young dragons. Kill was about to respond, but Shinguard was faster on the claw.

"Queen Glory has requested our presence." She said with the utmost confidence. They bit their lip while trying to keep a straight face. The NightWing flicked his tail and walked inside the tent. They immediately made contact with Shin, who seemed unbothered.

"You wanna back out?" She asked them while scratching her neck.

"I-" A strained moan came from the back of their throat, and they shook their head slowly. "What is it for?" She looked at them.

"If I told you, you would have tons of annoying questions." She muttered something, but they couldn't make it out in time for the NightWing poking his head out of the tent.

"Continue." He motioned, leading them inside.

The smell of scrolls was welcoming- Finally, *some* form of normality. The tree rooted throne was vacant at the moment, as their queen was tending to some *other* scrolls. Wait. Why did she have so many scrolls? How did she get so many? Shin bumped them, and they bit their lip to keep them from screaming at the freezing of her scales. She looked up at the guard and glared at him. Grumbling, he left. They sat in silence other than the scribbling of claws on paper for... Three minutes? Four? The time stretched unevenly, and the air just grew colder as the tension rose. They took in a breath.

"So-" Kill started, and they weren't sure what was going to happen afterward.

"Why aren't you at Jade?" Queen Glory asked, and they blinked.

"O- Oh, I thought she was going to tell you something-"

"Like what? Clay's trying to eat dragonets again?"

"..." They stared at her majesty, nothing to say to that. There were so many implications in that sentence. Again?

"I hope you don't mind me passing the formalities." Shinguard spoke up, glaring at Kill with a look that would freeze him in a moment. She moved up towards her. "But there's a problem."

Queen Glory sighed. "You did this two weeks ago. I'm not letting you fill the village with disasters, and with the number of trees burnt down, I'm not sure you'd want to go *back* to the hellscape that is the volcano-" She cut their queen off, stepping over a line.

"I did. With this imbicile."

"HEy!" Kill objected, but got glared at and backed down. She took in a deep breath.

"Like I was saying, we actually saw something. A wyvern with feathers on its neck?" Queen Glory blinked.

"That's a bird, honeydew."

"I know what a bird is! And is wasn't this! It could walk into lava, and I-" She stopped suddenly and started backing away from their majesty silently. She snorted. Queen Glory got up and approached her.

"I don't want to hear any more of this. Do you understand?" Kill nodded violently, but Shin didn't. Their queen hissed like a snake. The room became very hot and screaming started outside the tent. They looked at Shin, who was on her knees. She held up three talons, two talons, one talon.

The tent exploded, and one of the wyverns came through and grabbed their queen by the neck. She screamed and started spraying her venom everywhere. They winced at it hit their neck and shoulder and turned away, screaming. When the burning stopped, they turned back around and she was still screaming. Her- Her entire body was *melting*. Just- Melting. The blood coming from her mouth turned into red vapor in an instant, and her head fell off. They screeched and tried to back away, but their legs didn't want to work. Her head rolled onto his talons, where they could feel the melting of her green scales drip through theirs and onto the scorched grass. Her eyes were most likely the worst part- they melted over and over again until they rested in the rest of what was left of her head. A beheaded, screaming RainWing, wings outstretched was left on his talons in the hideous form of their queen. She was dead.

They slowly lifted their talons and stared at them, shaking. They blinked and weakly followed the dragon leading them out. Who- what- Shin- Yes, that's right, it was Shinguard.

Shinguard, who had led them as an alibi to the volcano to witness the first sighting of these monsters.

Shinguard, who had looked to be in pain while walking to see their queen.

Shinguard, who had backed down after a few minutes of spilling out her guts to the queen.

Shinguard, who had counted down to the exact moment of her queen's death, her 'trial by fire'.

She had *known*. He blinked out of the memory, and they were now flying into Jade Mountain Academy. They were shaking, but not out of fear. Out of betrayal, and anger, and whatever word you could use to explain the emotion of hate.

"You. Knew." They whispered slowly. She turned around, trying to act dumb.

"What-"

"You. Knew." They looked at her and slowly raised their gray wings which were quickly turning black. She swallowed.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, rattlesnake. You know *exactly* what I'm talking about," They approached her, and she seemed to be backing off slightly.

"You knew she was going to die, didn't you. You *counted* to the exact moment she was going to die." She looked down.

"I did."

They growled. "Why didn't you do anything...?" They broke down, holding their ash-covered talons to their head and shaking it. Their wings fell, and they felt as though chains had been put on them, trying to drag him into a very dark place.

Shin pursed her lips and tried to help them, and they growled. She immediately received the message and looked away. She took a deep breath.

"I tried to help dragons," She began. "But they died..." She paused. "They died in more horrific ways than what you've just seen. More painful, as well. I didn't want her to suffer." She swallowed and crouched by them. "I will tell you everything," She admitted, "But only if you promise to listen."

They stared at her and cursed. They walked out to the entrance to see the entire rainforest in flames. They were all dead. If they weren't, they were going to be soon. They turned back to her. "... Fine." He walked towards her and sat down.

"Let's see what you know."

## Chapter 3

Chronos coughed and hid the scars that branded him. Of course. How has he become so foolish? *Of course,* their brother found another clever little loophole through each of his plans, getting other dragons killed just so that *they* could survive. It's always been about their survival, not others. He'd bet that they would switch places with his parents in a flash, without a moment of guilt or remorse.

He turned, breathing hard. "Y'know," He began, "I really hate seeing your face."

"I hate seeing you like this," Lineage lied, erupting a snort from Chronos.

"I hate watching you die over and over again." They started to walk around him. "*You* caused this, and I never wanted this to happen to you."

"Says the thing that killed me in the first place."

"I didn't kill you, brother."

"Why are retaining me here, then?" Chronos could already feel the pulling of that word. *Hate.* If that word was physical, it would've been ruined. Lineage stared at him.

"Because you don't believe that you don't deserve this." They put their talons on his shoulder. Chronos gave him the death stare.

"I want the best for you."

That.

Line.

That line brought back quite a few unwanted memories of them together, and he shivered. So much had changed. He shook it off the shock and hissed, wrenching his shoulder from their grasp.

"Of course you do," He spat. "Of course you *always* want the best for me. Even if that includes torturing me in my world." Lineage looked at something behind Chronos, but he didn't care.

"You never cared, you only pretended to get close to me. Because you *knew* I would rip you into pieces if you gave me the chance." They started to shake, red cracks with a black, ethereal liquid dripping from them in the parallel direction that the crack was made.

"Well, guess what, ***brother.***" He grabbed her jawline, forcing them to stare at him.

"I. Don't. Care. Anymore."

The world exploded. He felt like his scales were being ripped off and strapped back on all at once as he slowly realized that he truly didn't care anymore. He didn't care if they came for him. He didn't care if they tried to kill him.

*Let them come.* His thoughts hissed as his back and lower neck formed burns from lightning striking it so many times. His shoulders and flanks felt restricted as he raised his scorched wings into the air, winging him away into his scorched playground.

*Let them all come.*

***.\_\_. .\_.. . .\_ ... .***

## Chapter 4

Killprotector watched their 'friend' stare into space. She looked worried, but they were still mad at her, no, *furious* at her.

"Well?" They hissed, causing her to reel back in slight fear. "Are you going to explain your gift to me or not?"

"It's not a gift," She tried. "It's a curse. Feels like one, anyway."

They growled, getting tired of these games. "What does it do?"

She opened her muzzle and then closed it, thinking about how to tell them that she let their queen(*And my family. Don't think about that.*) die.

"... I can see when and how a dragon dies. And it's not just from natural causes or a bad fight. Really, *really* bad ones." She shivered.

"I felt her die. I felt our queen die, and it was *horrifying.* I would've kept digging in if the pain hadn't gotten so bad..." She shook her head, shutting her eyes.

"So?" They asked her, refusing to feel pity. "So what? You could've saved our queen! You could've saved everyone there!" It just occurred to them that maybe they were supposed to die.

Seemingly reading their mind, she answered them.

"You don't understand. I *used* to save dragons."

"So why don't you do now?!"

She was shaking and blinking back tears. "Because if I do, I get to experience their death again, and again, and again, in progressively more brutal and painful ways, *and I can't go through that again.*" She stopped making eye contact and looked away. When she spoke again, her voice denoted brokenness and fear.

"I'm experiencing your death right now."

The words sent a shock through their, body and he took in a few deep breaths. The world got fuzzy, and his head hurt. He blinked the dizzyness away and shook his head, leaning against the cave entrance. Despite everything going on, they laughed. Not out of joy but of the fear of getting killed. They were supposed to *die.* They took a moment to think about that. Were they supposed to burn as Queen Glory did? Were they deemed to get kidnapped, or worse, forced as a slave until he died? How long would it take? How painful would it be? They shivered as they ran the possibilities through their head. They felt cold air on their forehead, and they backed up, blinking at her.

They shook their head, swallowing the saliva that had built up in their throat.

"There's another that could help us." Shinguard tried, but Kill shut her up.

"No, no, no, no... There's another that could help *me.*" She took a dominant position.

"You take two steps, you're dead in less than a second."

"I beg to differ," they said while stamping their spurs on the ground. "it *won't* try again." She laughed.

"Oh, the thing that kills for fun will do the worst things for the pettiest of crimes. I know."

"How do *you* know? You're literally death's bodyguard!"

"Because they made me into a frostscales, symbolizing my connection with the dying, and forced me to be related to a species of dragons that controls time and creates universes," she said, exasperated. "Any more objectification to my existence?"

They stopped arguing with her and sighed. "Okay. Who do we need to meet?"

"His name- What I've heard of it anyway- Is Cryo. I think he's in the Sand Kingdom-"

"Who's in the Sand Kingdom?" A feminine voice said to their right.

Tsunami. Quietly, Killprotector cursed to themselves. SeaWings always creeped him out, especially with their tails. The fact that their docks could break bones was enough for him to fear their entire tribe. And the fact that they could drown them- Nope. They were never going to the ocean again.

"A friend of ours," Shinguard supplied. "we were going to visit him."

Tsunami laughed. "I heard much more than that." Shinguard's face darkened and paled. They'd always assumed that she was trying not to throw up or was sick or something like that. Now, the only thought marching its way through their head was that she was experiencing her death.

"How much did you hear?" Shinguard finally asked, somehow not skipping a beat.

"Something about Glory dying- Which is a joke, right?" The SeaWing said nonchalantly. Then she looked in their direction, and they felt as though their heart was about to explode.

"Uh... Um- You see- Uhm-"

"Moons above, you stutter as much as Turtle did when he's nervous. It's a yes or no question."

"... No."

She stared at them before turning towards Shinguard. She nodded. "They're right. She died," She started to roll her claws on the stone floor, and they realized her death was coming. "C- Come on, I'll show you." A Tsunami of doubt followed, rolling her eyes and being a smug SeaWing.

It disappeared when she saw the forest was gone. It was all just ash. Like a forest never existed. A gasp choked out of the SeaWing's throat like it was trying to strangle her. She opened her wings, but Kill closed them. They shook their head at her, and Shinguard backed them up.

"You go down there, your wings burn, and you become ash before you hit the ground. It's painful."

"No." That was the only word that she needed.

One moment, they were holding her wings the next, they were against the wall with their head hurting like they hung upside-down for two hours.

A few wingbeats and the screaming started.

It ceased as quickly as it began.

Killprotector scrambled to the edge only to see falling ash. They moved away and looked at Shinguard for comfort. Her gaze reminisced sadness and repressed anger that terrified them.

"It's going to kill everyone here. The heat," Shinguard got up, wincing from the wound in her side.

"Grab what you want. Your items in there may be the last thing you look at before you die."

"That's uneededly bleak." Kill protested but knew that it was true. They went into their dorm to find their things. The first thing they grabbed was a turtle. The gift they got for his 4th hatching day from their parents. If only they knew it would be the last thing they would see when they died.

\_ .... . | \_\_ \_\_\_ ..\_ \_. \_ .\_ .. \_. | .\_\_ .. .\_.. .\_.. | **\_... ..\_ .\_. \_. \_.\_.\_\_**

## Chapter 5

As Killprotector flew away from the unbearably hot academy, they shut their eyes. They sighed and looked at Shinguard, whose scales had darkened. Her eyes looked lost, and her body seemed to be on autopilot.

They looked back at the academy, and the mountain seemed to be burning. It had only been a few hours since they left, yet Tsunami's screams personified the collapsing mountain and its captives, laughing as it encased them in fire and mercury. They looked at their friend relax and look extremely tired. They flew for a while in silence while heading towards the Sand Kingdom's Scorpion Den. They took the absence in danger to think.

If the Sand Kingdom was already far too hot, what would the heat do to it? If it could melt an entire mountain, it could turn the Sand Kingdom into lava. Worse, a boiling point hot enough to kill dragons. They shivered at the thought. No dragon should die from the heat. Or the cold. The Rainforest Kingdom was one-size-fits-all. Now, it could turn dragons to ash, but at least they had a kind of painless death. His thoughts were interrupted by a cold talon pulling on his neck spines.

"-!!" Kill made a noise as they were whisked back by Shinguard. She put up a claw while they flailed their talons about their neck, trying to warm it up again.

A stick exploded a few feet in front of them, a suspiciously smoking spike of wood rising into the air and tilting down inches in front of them. They looked down and watched as it burned a hole through a tree- One of the last ones standing, Killprotector realized.

Shinguard made a signal, and they followed, getting close to the Sand Kingdom.

"You'll be safer there," Shinguard said for the first time since leaving Jade Mountain. "she doesn't have as much control over the Sand Kingdom than other places."

It didn't reassure them very much, but they felt better while crossing the border.

Shinguard and Killprotector landed on the burning sands. Ever since The SandWing Succession, the Sand Kingdom never felt safe anymore. But for some reason, a brief amnesty from trying to get killed by an invisible force was quite friendly and made the hot sand feel colder under their hooks- or perhaps that was Shin standing in front of them that created the illusion.

"Ready to keep going?" She asked them. They nodded, and they began to walk.

After a few hours of this(And close calls with other things that combusted into flames trying to take his head off their shoulders), the silence was beginning to get to them. They had mentioned a 'her' Who was the Her? They thought they were about to bring something up, but an alien took over their mouth and made them say something very different.

"How do I die?" They asked her unexpectantly. She blinked and stopped dead. The alien stared at her expectantly, and they waited for an answer to a question they didn't want to know yet.

"... You die... Melting? From the heat? I don't understand the question." They let out a sigh and swallowed the building phlegm.

"What kills me, I mean." They asked of their own free will. The burst of curiosity was gone but might as well go all in now. Her eyes darkened again.

"The SandWing Palace- Or the Scorpion Den. One of them collapses on you, and you melt from the heat." They couldn't stop shivering after that. "Anything else?" She cast a glance back, and Kill followed. The edges of the Sand Kingdom seemed to be exploding and looked distorted from the upcoming heat.

They nodded but signaled *later* to her. They both took to the skies and flew, reserving their energy for when they needed it.

                            \* \* \*

"Arrival! Finally!" Kill almost complained while they landed at the Scorpion Den.

"Stay close." Those were the only words she said before darting off using a mental compass. They had to run to keep up with her. They didn't notice that she had stopped until they stopped feeling cold and looked around wildly; The Scorpion Den was, of course, a dangerous city, that was obvious- But the thought of someone trying to kill them was *terrifyingly critical.*

"You lost, Kill?" They turned and saw a tall NightWing, probably a few years older than them, looking down. Their ears went back when they spotted the curved tooth they had brandished.

"Um- I was just- Ah-" A chill bump appeared on their shoulder, and they felt safer already.

"Are you Cryo?" Shinguard demanded. The NightWing laughed.

"Of course I am dear; How else would I know his name?" They shivered, and their wings turned a reddish-brown.

"I'd like for you to use they/them pronouns, please-"

"Shut up, dear scalie~ Now-" A wing slapped him across the face, and they fell to the ground, wincing. They picked up some of the conversation that followed a few seconds after getting hit.

"... You can't kill him."

"He missed his date. That explains the headaches-"

"The Scorpion Den is going to burn."

Silence for a while. They picked their head up and looked at the NightWing again. Coughing, they sat up and looked at Shinguard's face.

"... Liar. They're not due." The NightWing hissed, twirling the tooth in his claws. Shin laughed.

"Neither was Glory. Neither was their family. Neither was *my* family," she hissed, her voice hiding a lot of emotion. "Tsunami is *dead.*"

The NightWing stayed quiet. "... What killed her?" Shin scoffed and looked at Killprotector. She shook her head and looked back.

"Later. But we have to go." She grabbed them, electing a yelp.

"Sorry. You're not going to want to see this." They shivered, and a sharp pain went through his head, forcing their eyes shut.

Killprotector slept for the first time what felt like in years.

**\_.. .. . \_\_..\_\_ | ... \_.\_. \_\_\_ .\_. .\_\_. .. \_\_\_ \_. | \_.. . \_. \_.\_.\_\_ \_.\_.\_\_ |**

## Chapter 6

Killprotector winced as they awoke. A burning pain erupted from their tail, and it twitched out of instinct. The first thing they heard was crunching.

They turned, staring at a NightWing twice their size with a scorpion tail hanging out of his mouth. A burning sensation went through their flag, and they looked down to watch a scorpion crawl out of it. The NightWing dug his clutches into the scorpion and ate it. Strangely enough, this wasn't the weirdest(Or grotesque) thing that had happened to them. Dragging their tail into their claws, they looked around. It seemed to be a cave in the middle of the Sand Kingdom.

The Sand Kingdom. Why was that important?

"Cry, stop scaring them." A feminine voice said outside. The NightWing took a double-take.

"Did you just call me Cry?" The NightWing left, and they got up, wincing at the radiating pain on the back of their head. Curious, they walked outside.

Their scales hissed and smoked from the heat wedging itself into his scales. They came out fully and blinked at the moving landscape. The sand- red? Why was it red? They walked towards the bickering NightWings, their memories slowly coming back.

"... -ood... Alive, somehow." Words weren't fitting in the right places. They rubbed their head and groaned from the waves of pain.

"Whatt happened?... Where are hwe?" They asked, noticing their slur a little bit.

"I knocked you out," Sh- Shinguard. That was her name, yes- humored them. "I thought you were going to die from heatstroke or something while the Scorpion Den melted."

They blinked. "Melted? You don't mean- !!" They skittered away from a large hook on their jaw, and it turned their head towards the red sands. Scales and wings floated in the quicksand. Could it even be called that? It moved like things were swimming under it, enjoying the bodies that burned and melted.

They shivered and felt sick. The NightWing let go as he vomited. They were overwhelmed with a sense of hopelessness. Nothing would last, not even the stench coming from their disgusting discharge.

"You okay?" They staggered back a bit, laying back a little.

"Yeah," They replied. "Moons above, that's degusting."

Shaking themselves, they slowly backed away. May- Maybe they were in over their head. Maybe it was better to accept death. If this kept going, then the continent was going to melt. Completely. They shivered at the thought. Would it incinerate the ocean? Could it get to more places? Was it worth living in a world that was doomed? Because of his- His *friend?*

"Killprotector?" Their full name brought them back from the brief delirium of ruin. They looked up, tears and blood staining their scales.

"I..." They faltered and raised their wings.

"I have to go."

With that, they started to speed towards the Ice Kingdom, hoping the ice wall enchantment didn't work to hide.

But did animus magic work to keep them alive anymore, or was that another lie?

## Chapter 7

Killprotector flew to the Ice Kingdom in a panicky motion. They couldn't go back, not after what happened. They'd *never* go back. All of the Kingdoms were burning. The Ice Kingdom, however, was the only place in Phyrhhia that wouldn't melt. They hoped it would be, and that wouldn't just be a story their mother told them to calm them down.

                            \* \* \*

The Great Ice Wall was finally in view. Their wings were sore, and a part of them just wanted to collapse. Other dragons were flying at different speeds, and the heat that Phyrrhia was reaching began to catch a few dragons closest to it on fire and burn. They'd been hearing roars of the mythical(*I guess not, anymore*) wyverns but refused to look back at them. They expected that the Ice Kingdom was a safe zone and the Great Ice Wall wouldn't fire at them. There were a couple of IceWings admitting dragons into the Ice Kingdom. *Oh, thank the moons.* Getting into the line, they slowly flew past the old rivals, fear striking their wings, and their body began to seize up with nervousness. No one said anything. And The Great Ice Wall didn't fire spikes at them. They let out a breath. *THANK. THE. MOONS.* Then they heard screaming and dared to look back.

One of the wyverns- one that looked black and broken, bit into a dragon and immediately set it on fire, throwing it at another. Its eyes locked onto Kill, and they gasped, shivering. It screeched and dived, the wings going to pummel Kill into the ground. Then ice seemed to enter its body. It entered its wings, freezing them in its diving position. They ran away and got showered with snow. They looked at the wyvern again, and its feet froze and snapped off of the body. It looked at its heat, stroked scales begin to freeze off of its body, and screamed before the ice crystalized in its mouth, stopping its heart from beating. Warm air exhaled from its mouth and the ice statue of the bird-like wyvern tipped over into the snow, its eyes blank and lifeless. *They were right. It- The cold kills them. I'm safe*. Killprotector let out a giddy chuckle. *I'm safe. I'm finally safe-* It felt like the continent began to shift.

The screaming started, and all orderliness at the border fell apart. All of the dragons at the perimeter began to tip back, and they screamed. Some of them grabbed onto the wall. Kill couldn't tell as water filled his vision, and the scales of the dead wyvern cut his scales. They screamed as the top of the Ice Palace impaled his arm. Then the entire platform that surrounded them rocketed to the surface, Killprotector almost falling off. They coughed up a strange mixture of water and blood and screamed, more water trying to pile them off into the sea. A talon grabbed them and pulled them up onto the platform, and they looked around, holding their limp arm.

The Ice Palace was missing its pike.

Dragons impaled with sticks.

Death. But they survived.

They stared at the decreasing figure of Pyhhria, now burning the gaping hole that was left when The Ice Kingdom fell.

*It's the second Scorching,* They thought, shivering as the pain reached their arm.

*Everyone's going to die.*

## Chapter 8

Killprotector rubbed their sore arm, wincing from the slight pain. It had been two weeks since the Ice Kingdom collapsed. Well, since all of Phyrrhia burned. Dragons had been panicking. There was a steady food production from the remaining SeaWings, but the water was the problem. The stench of death laid heavy in their nostrils, as those who fell to dehydration were put into a pile and used as bait to attract sharks. It was awful. All of it was awful.

Getting up out of bed, they looked at themselves in the water. Large circles under their eyes. Still bruised and bleeding in some places. All in all, miserable.

They were heading to the lost continent, according to an IceWing named Frost. He said that they had an animus who was leading them there. Hopefully, they got there soon. And hopefully, they would get water there.

There was a shout that shook them out of their trance. They heard the word water and walked over, too tired to run. They could smell it, and his entire body shivered- Not from the cold anymore, but from the eagerness. When they finally reached it, it was all but gone. Quickly taking out five flasks, they filled it up before others could grab the entire thing. Solipsistic freaks.

As soon as Kill got all of their flasks filled up, they walked away, hiding them from sight. They walked back to their outgrow and chugged the first one, feeling their cracked throat take it all in. As soon as they were done, they spat out blood, triggered from the lack of. They almost chugged the second one and decided not to waste it so quickly. Half a flask a day. That meant eight days. they laid back onto the ground, huffing angrily. *Please let us get there in eight days. Please. We need this.* I *need this.*

*Don't let this be on fire. Don't let it be melting like my home.*

They heard heavy wing flaps and looked up. Squinting, they could see one of The Scorched. Oh, yeah. They had those to worry about, too.

## Chapter 9

White Tip shivered. Every bone in his body was screaming for warmth, but Ace was in the Ice Kingdom, which had floated away. Not only had she abandoned him, but Gingervread was also most likely going to die here. She couldn't survive for days on end. Yes, he could become Chaos, but there was still a part of his body that screamed not to, for he would be hunted.

So he stayed there, underground, gently petting his daughter's scales while listening to scratching above. Subtlety was gone- They knew that other beings existed, and it wasn't too far off to assume that *he* was alive too- That White Tip the SeaWing was alive and well. And scared out of his mind. He felt a pull on his neck and huffed. Ghedda.

Raising his claw, he went into the dark purple pocket dimension that used to be a place of comfort. All it was now was a ruin. The white dragonel stood at a distance. The wounds on her right arm still hadn't gotten better, but time didn't pass here.

"Hello, Ghedda."

"Hello, White Tip. Have you missed a certain *date* lately?" She hissed, letting the toxic flow out of her voice. He quickly checked The List- A dragon named Killprotector. "I thought the frostscales NightWing had them." He said. "Wait, did he do this?"

Ghedda nodded. "I sent them to make sure they die. Apparently, you need to kill another guardian. She saved them from death." White Tip stared for a moment.

"*You* did this?"

"I never meant it to get so bad- Once no one watches Phyrrhia, I'll fix it. They've all vacated and are killing the remainder in the Ice Kingdom, starving them. They won't attack anyone other than Kill, but unfortunately, their aura has... Side effects."

White Tip was shaking, despite the chains.

"You want to stop it, kill Kill. And I'd suggest dropping your daughter off with a week's worth of food and water. They'll need it."

He existed and looked away, fighting the anger that came with everything. He wanted to hurt someone- Some*thing*. Slowly, he calmed down.

"Dad?"

"Yes, Honeydew?"

"What happened?"

He sighed. "Auntie Ace is trapped on the Ice Kingdom, surrounded by beings from the Arks. We have food down here, and water. I need you to gather a weeks' worth of it for everyone on there."

"How many dragons?"

"... Around 150."

"Okay."

He watched her go into the freezer and collect the food while he messed with his '45. It was a gun, but at the same time, it was also a rapier and two daggers. She came out with quite a lot of bags, and he put them into The Void.

Cautiously opening the door, the side they were on wasn't on fire(thankfully. Burning to death is an awful one, but this 'Killprotector deserved it.). He ripped off his face scales while transforming into Chaos- Golden scales freed themselves from vibrant green ones, and he grew out of his own body. Lowering his head, he invited her on. They had done this many times, but none had been as important.

Using the bright golden wings, he flew to get his body in the air before activating the upraised scales on his back, allowing him to go faster and have more control.

*I'm going to kill them. Since killing my brother, I've never wanted to kill anyone more.*

*And make them suffer.*

## Chapter 10

Killprotector sighed. It had been *months.* How were they still alive? The attempts were getting increasingly more aggressive from the wyverns, and he was worried they were chipping away the Ice Kingdom from the bottom up so that it would split in half. But the land had been sighted. All they had to do was make it there. Easier thought than done.

"THERE'S A DRAGON!" A shout made itself clear, and Kill's head turned, worried. Yes, there was, in fact, a dragon. A golden one, one that dwarfed the Ice Kingdom. The wyverns seemed to clear out to attack it, and the roar deafened the wyvern's screeches. If it was clear from a distance, and it could be heard from here, it must be *huge.* Larger than Darkstalker. Bigger than the Ice Kingdom. By the time it'd arrived, just about everyone was a good distance away from it. The golden dragon landed, and a smaller one came off. Not one dragon approached them until food and water appeared next to them. The lotus looked at them and opened its wings again. His eyes widened in fear. The golden dragon stuck to long poles of iron, seemingly coming directly from the wing itself, and walked towards Kill, lifting itself completely off the ground. Smoke began to distort the dragon's face, making it seem as though it was made of smoke.

"Oh moons," Killprotector breathed as it began to pour from the dragon's mouth. They turned and leaped off of the Ice Kingdom, seeing a line of fire strike past him. *It missed.* They thought for a second before hitting the water.

Their back exploded in pain, and they screamed in pain, tears beginning to pour from their eyes as the pain traveled from their back to the rest of their body. The burning came from all around him. *I'm being boiled alive,* they thought. *I'm going to die here.* Something strong and thick wrapped around their body, bringing them out of the water. Shaking, they stared at the dragon. It didn't open its mouth to speak, but a voice beat the inside of their skull and sent pain ringing to their ears, making their eyes bloodshot with the force.

***You missed your date, Killprotector.*** Despite the pain, they laughed, coughing. "Wh- What do you... What do you mean...??" The being growled and tightened the grip, making their ribcage shake. ***You know what I mean. You should've died.*** They shivered, blood seeping from their eyes. They couldn't hear anymore, and they dropped their head. "Please... I don't want to die..."

***Don't you think it* strange *that they only go where you go?*** The being asked. They couldn't see anymore and shook their head to clear the blood. "I- C'oaugh... I guess..." They coughed up blood midsentence. ***They are here because of you. The longer you live, the more dragons dead. Once you die, they will leave.*** They shivered and looked at the four-wing handing out food. They had no more chances. Everything was starting to blur, and they couldn't tell if they were crying or not. "Just make it quick..." They tried.

***Oh, I won't.*** Even as their world began to blacken and cease, the voice continued to beat inside of their head.

***You destroyed my world.***

***So I'll destroy your will.***

## Chapter ???

Killprotector slowly came to, staring at the stars. Huh. For the first time in a while, he could see the skies- A nice change of pace. Hearing talonsteps, they tried to sit up but decided they were too tired. Their heart leaped when they saw Shinguard.

"Shin!-... Ow.." In their excitement, they forgot about their chest injury. They slowly got up, shaking their head. Everything felt fuzzy and weird. "Ugh... Shin, what happened?" Silence answered their words. They looked at her and realized that she was tied up and gagged. She had burn marks and scars all over her body, and her eyes scratched out. The skin there was acting as a blindfold. *Oh. Oh, moons.* It said 'TRAITOR' where her eyes were supposed to be. They almost got up when a voice interrupted their actions.

"Ah, so you're finally awake."

They turned, and there sat a green SeaWing with a white-tipped snout. Claws, which were webless, were covered in dark indigo blood. They swallowed and looked down to see a timer. 3:47. 3:46. 3:45.

"That's the timer for your birthday." He said. "I'm not permitted to kill dragonets, and you're 6 years old, correct?" They felt a shiver run through their body. They felt invaded.

"In 3 minutes, how you feel won't matter. These wyverns are here for you." Killprotector looked up, and they stared at the head of one. "You missed your date a year ago before this. Because you weren't dying, they came for you." Then his wings rose, and their eyes widened in fear. Royal markings. On a *SeaWing.* A prince, though the markings were faded.

"God said- Sorry, *the moons* said that you had to die, and you looked them in the eyes and said, 'No.' They came after you, and you led them ALL THROUGH PHYRRHIA, essentially killing it. Do you have ***ANY*** idea how long this will take to fix the mess *you* caused?!" The SeaWing was yelling now, and they stared at the ground. 1:00. 59 seconds. 58 seconds.

"But it's fine. Because a minute from now, you'll be of age for me to kill you, and then it'll all be fine. Everything will return to normal when you die." Killprotector was shaking now. They'd thought their scales had gotten used to the cold. The SeaWing wasn't the cold, Killprotector realized. The SeaWing was *fear.* The SeaWing was a darkness that swelled through their rankings, staring at an end worse than death. Kill was cursed. That was the only explanation. 28 seconds.

"I'm going to make you wish your mother slipped that egg right back inside of her body. Better yet, broke it as soon as it came out so that you wouldn't have to go through this." 21 seconds. This timer was the longest minute of their life. "Usually, I kill them, and then add the scars," He told them as he watched saliva drop onto the timer. *He's salivating at the thought of killing me.* "Not for you. You ruined my daughter's life and killed thousands of dragonets. You f\*cked up." He hissed, spitting on him. They wiped it off as the timer reached 5 seconds.

"Time's up, Kill." The SeaWing got up, and he raised his head. He was standing on two legs. "By dragon's standards, you're an adult now." What was about to happen was hitting them in the head, and they didn't want to be here anymore.

"I- Isn't there a different way?" They asked desperately.

"Oh, no. The time for begging has come and gone." They were sitting, awaiting their demise, and then they were on their back, against an ice wall.

"Cic- No-" Their pleas were cut short by something stabbed into their tail. They started to writhe in pain, the shock of being stung by something too much for them. Their thoughts stopped being sensible and became feral as they desperately looked for a way out.

"You're feeling all the pain you've caused dragons." Someone said, somewhere. "Which is a lot." The pain started to burn, and their world became orangy-red as their scales caught aflame. They began to scream, and the squirming became more violent. They couldn't control themselves, and when it ended, they were shivering in pain and slightly in shock. They tried to speak, but it came out as drool and blood-soaked tears.

They weakly crawled away to someone with gold scales. "H-... 'lp-" They managed, swallowing blood. They couldn't feel their body anymore. Everything hurt. Kill groaned, and stars littered their vision, making a solar system. They didn't have the strength to writhe as they were set on fire again. They wished for death to claim them.

They didn't exactly know how long it'd been, all that Shinguard was free. Muddlement turned their vision with the red they could taste. They got pushed onto their back by something.

"I'm sorry." Something hit his scales. Were they crying? It didn't matter any longer.

Their vision became bloody, and they stared into the clouded sky.

The last thing they watched was the wyverns turn to ash. They smiled. They saved the world.