Eternal Darkness

**WARNING - THERE WILL BE SOME GORE, BLOOD AND DEATH IN THIS FANFICTION. IF YOU'RE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THAT SORT OF STUFF, SKIP OVER THE CHAPTER. I'LL BE ADDING A WARNING BEFORE I DO WRITE IT, AND THERE'LL BE A SUMMARY IN THE NEXT ONE SO THAT YOU DON'T MISS OUT.**

## A/N (Read If You Wish To)

Let's start by saying that the characters Ashe, Bloom, Erebus, Starfire, Horntail, and a few others (I can't remember their names) belong to me. I don't know if anyone else has made these characters before, but these were created by me. (If you have, please note that I'm *not* trying to steal your work) The character Boreas is created by WHYYYYYYHUY and has been added into this story with their consent.

Secondly, I know that there's another story with this title, but I haven't copied that. I just randomly thought of this title, and I don't plan on changing it anytime soon.

Thirdly, this story has LGTBQ+ representation, especially trans. I'm not trans, so I don't know how to write someone who is. If I do something wrong, please do tell me, and I sincerely apologize in advance if I screw up.

Lastly, this story belongs to me. DON'T STEAL (I don't even know if you'll read it, but if you do, thanks). It took a good amount of time to work on this, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't take it. If you *do* decide to add any mentions of this or use any of the characters for your purpose or something, check with me before you do.

Anyway, enjoy reading.

## Prologue

Darkness.

The only thing the dragonet could see was darkness. It wasn't the kind to make you curl into a ball and cry, rather, it provided a sense of safety and comfort. The dragonet unfurled his tiny claws and tried to make out where it was. A tough wall surrounded him, protecting him from harm.

"Don't touch them!"

The voice that yelled was sharp and cold. Ashe didn't like the sound of it, not one bit. He tried to locate the source and why it was close to Ashe's private space.

There.

The mind that Ashe was exploring was frigid cold and lurked with darkness. He couldn't quite describe it yet, however, *twisted* fitted it just fine. Memories of an ice palace kept revolving inside, sparking feelings of disgust and (Ashe had a suspicion) fear. He caught onto one word repeated in the dragon's head during conversations he'd had with others- *Arctic.* So that was the dragon's name. Not that it made much of a difference anyway.

"They need to hatch under the moonlight, *Arctic*. Unless you've failed to notice, they're not exactly under it right now."

While he was busy exploring the corners of Arctic's mind, Ashe failed to notice that there was, indeed, another dragon close. Switching his attention to her, the dragonet searched for her mind, keen to know what was going on in there.

The other one's mind was much calmer and radiated a certain amount of warmth and love, which, Ashe was pretty sure, wasn't meant for him. She had a fierce desire to protect dragons she was close with, although it was limited to a few dragons only. Her thoughts were focused mainly on her dragonets, which were due to hatch anytime now, making it harder for Ashe to figure out how her mind functioned. It didn't matter. There would be plenty of time for that later on.

Just as he was about to stop inspecting dragons' brains, he caught onto something that piqued his interest.

The new mind was restless. The dragonet to who it belonged seemed to be right beside him but Ashe was unable to reach out. He was fighting the walls that kept them safe, and it appeared as though he desperately wanted to get out of their embrace. An image flashed before Ashe's eyes. The dragonet next to him wore a long, twisted black crown while sitting on a throne. He was smiling menacingly, eyes glittering with anger and malice.

*That* was bad.

Ashe had no idea why it was important or what it could mean. But his instinct told him to get out of the egg *right now*. If he didn't, he might never be able to stop whatever bad was yet to come.

Ashe put his claws against the cool, hard wall and pushed and kicked with all his strength. He continued for a while until there was a satisfying *crack.* The shell fell away, and moonlight poured down on his scales, blessing (or cursing) him with power. He stared up at the three perfectly round orbs in the sky, wanting to seize them and shove them whole into his mouth.

Ashe heard the click of a tongue and turned his attention towards the two dragons towering behind him.

One was as pale as the moons above. With scales polished, silvery-white, and containing hints of blue, Arctic's cold blue eyes glowered down at him, judging everything from his horns right down to his tail. Ashe glared back, knowing that he hated him with everything he had.

The other dragon (Ashe caught her name to be Foeslayer) had scaled the colour of a night sky. Small star-like dots shimmered underneath her wing, and her dark green eyes stared at him, frowning at him with slight disdain.

Another dragonet was tucked underneath her wing, looking at Ashe with curiosity. Was this the dragon from the image he'd seen before? The reason that he'd struggled to get out of his egg? He didn't seem like anyone special. Not a dragon worth mentioning in future history scrolls. Certainly not one of the most powerful dragons to ever live. But the silver scales besides his eyes spoke otherwise.

Ashe glanced down at his scales in an attempt to make out his appearance. He noticed that he had scales in shades of blue, the most notable colour being navy. The horns and spikes alongside his back were black. His wings were ice blue with small, black dots, like stars in the night sky, and his underbelly was lapis blue in colour. He didn't know it, but he also had two small teardrop scales besides his eyes which were light blue, almost white.

"What's wrong with it" The white dragon - Arctic - hissed, eyeing Ashe up and down.

Foeslayer hesitated, "I-I don't know. He doesn't look like an IceWing, but he can't pass by as a NightWing either. What should we do with him?"

The latter scoffed, "We'll have to raise it for now. However, if it gets *too* annoying, I don't mind kicking it out." Foeslayer nodded begrudgingly and pulled the other dragonet closer. She turned away and refused to pay more attention to her other son.

Ashe blinked owlishly, questioning what was going on. Had he done anything? Why weren't Mother and Father paying attention to him? Why did they ignore him?

Ashe's brother scrambled out of their mother's black talons and wobbled over towards him. He sat down in front of the former and stayed silent for a whole minute.

Another vision flashed before his eyes. This one showed Ashe and his brother fighting in a big room, surrounded by black dragons. Ashe dove for Darkstalker's throat but got thrown to the side and crashed into the wall. Darkstalker snarled and stepped forward, eyes narrowing in fury as he muttered something inaudible.

Ashe was thrown out of his vision as he felt Darkstalker gripping his talon in his own. The dragonet seemed to have seen the same vision as well, as his face looked anxious. He shook his head as though trying to forget was he'd just seen.

Ashe gripped his talons tighter, smiling very slightly at his brother, who returned it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mother turning over another egg, hidden in the darkness. Ashe made his way quietly over to it and plopped himself down, and stared down at the black egg. He could see from his visions what his sister would look like. Ashe saw how unusual and beautiful she would be. He saw how he could summon her out of the egg, how she would be gifted with the same powers like him and how they could grow powerful together. Ashe considered this option for some time, wondering whether or not he should do it. Finally, he decided against it and kept his talons to himself.

Ashe noticed a flicker of movement. He glanced sideways, only to see the brief outline of silver-white scales. The third dragonet stared up at his older brother, taking in his appearance and seemingly memorizing it. Ashe gazed down at the pale scaled dragon and paused upon seeing two teardrop scales besides his storm grey eyes.

Another mind-reader.

Another all-powerful dragon.

Another barrier in gaining the love of his parents.

Another obstacle in obtaining what he truly wanted.

Another possible threat to a future that he didn't even know existed.

Ashe blinked once, twice, thrice, before tilting his head slightly to the left and chirping something incomprehensible. Turning around to face Darkstalker, he laid down on the moss and curled up, preparing to sleep. His brother snuggled next to him, putting a wing around Ashe and falling asleep almost instantly.

Ashe stared at him for a few moments, watching his chest rise and fall in deep slumber. The vision from earlier was still in his head, and as he shut his eyes, welcoming the blissful quiet, he couldn't help but wonder if one of them would end up dead in the future.