VIKTOR TANLEY
I was paralyzed by fear as Darryl's gruesome death unrolled before my eyes. My breath was caught in my throat, my body frozen, and my mouth gaping in horror-stricken shock. The stone's otherworldly light exploded into the firmament, its eye-blinding radiance enveloping all. I would have wanted to escape—to run—but fear had stiffened every muscle in my body.
I stared at the pillar of light that pierced the heavens when—
"Viktor… Viktor, listen to me?"
The voice creaked in the transceiver in my left coat pocket. I wished with all my heart to reply, but the weight of the light kept me stationary where I stood, making me utterly still. I was a statue—statue-like with fear.
A few seconds had to pass before I could forage for the transceiver in my right pocket. My fingers responded only partly as I freed it.
"Help! Help!" I cried into the transceiver.
Ethan Connors, a boy roughly my age with deep blue eyes, brown hair, and a full beard, ran toward me. He also had on the same thick white coat, pants, and fur-lined boots that I was wearing. Three of the seven mercenaries were behind him, their pounding footsteps crunching on the frozen ground.
They were still twenty metres away when relief flooded through me. But before I could yell again—
Everything went black.
---
ETHAN CONNORS
"Stop!" I shouted, launching my arms out to halt the mercenaries behind me.
Viktor Tanley, who had shouted for help only seconds before, now lay nothing more than a fragmented heap of bones and blood. His body was crushed beneath the enormity of a monstrous paw. The beam of light had vanished, and there was nothing but a cloying, impenetrable fog.
I could scarcely glimpse beyond the fog, but what lay before me took my stomach's dive. Blood oozed from beneath the great claw that had pinned Viktor's body to the ground. And then, unexpectedly, a gust of wind tore through the mist—revealing something beyond comprehension.
A monster.
As tall as a two-story building, it had enormous black wings and the shape of an eagle. Four horns with points protruded from its head, giving it a godly ferocity.
I gasped in horror. "A dragon."
My racing heart, I turned to shout out the mercenaries—to order them back to camp.
But they were gone.
They had all fled, leaving me behind.
"Cowards!" I thundered, angry, and spun to dash back towards our tent.
Then—
"Finally! I am free!"
A voice, sharp and immobilizing, rang out behind me, stopping me in my tracks.
Laughter followed, deep and foreboding, ringing through the air.
"Every human on this world will suffer my—"
The dragon's words were cut off as chains erupted out of the earth, wrapping around its shape. It writhed wildly, wings unfolding, but the chains did not yield.
"Ugh, damn you, Dhaivat!" it roared, straining. "Do you think this will keep me in!!?"
The red eyes of the monster glowed with fury.
"Once I have recovered to my full strength, I'll smash these chains. Then, I will hunt down and devour the humans you love so much. Wait and see. I will annihilate them all—every single one!"
Its voice gave way to a growl as it curled in upon itself, its massive wings enfolded about its body like a cocoon.
The oppressive weight of its presence faded away, and I breathed at last. But my respite was short-lived. What I had just witnessed—what I now understood—was worse than we had ever dared imagine.
This was not done. It was merely beginning.
I spun and sprinted back to the tent. The mercenaries were nowhere to be found—cowards who had abandoned me. I cursed.
I retrieved the black bag that I had brought along and made my way toward the Wall. The path was still visible, illuminated by the chain of lights we had left behind.
As I walked into the foggy corridor that would take me back to the main side of th
e Wall, a ghastly realization lingered in my mind.
"What have we done?"