Sol

The dragon flitted down the dark hallway. Torn, dead lips pulled back over ancient, glistening teeth. It was time to eat. She crept up close to the unsuspecting dragon in front of her, ready for a feast. The first bite pierced the skin, and her teeth loosened the fat from its bones.

It tried to scream, but a quick twist of her head snapped her prey's neck, silencing it's screams to a gurgle. Blood pooled out from its open maw. She slurped it up, smacking her scratched, rotting chops. She made quick work of the rest of it. As she slurped the marrow out of the last of the bones, she stretched her creaky, crooked neck and grumbled in delight. She scuffled past the body and back into the darkness.

Her tail dragged on the sandy floor of the crypt, disrupting dry bones. Her snuffling breathing echoed through the dusty tombs as she scrabbled her way over remains of prey and enemy in search of her resting place. Dry scales scraped against hardened clay as she curled into the pit that was once hers. She rested her bloodstained maw on her cracked talons. Her wide, empty eyes stared sightlessly into the darkness.

Arza led her grandchildren through the sunny ruins, her deft old claws picking around stones and plants. Her little followers mimicked her plodding steps, their tiny wings and little frills flailing when they tripped. The elderly Bogsneak looked back at her little Fae descendants, beaming with pride. They were small, but old enough now to visit the crypts and their grandfather's bones. Arza felt a pang of sadness; she missed him greatly; but she held her head high and called for her little ones to hurry up.

The crypt was close to the border of the Twisted Wood, but Arza wasn't worried. She'd been here many times before, and she'd never had a problem. They neared the crypt entrance and the sky dimmed a bit as the mist thickened. Her little ones yelped and scurried under her belly, their little tails curling nervously around her legs. She cooed to them reassuringly, but even she felt a little nervous without the full light of the sun warming her back. She allowed the hatchlings to clamber onto her wide back. It brought a smile to her wrinkled old face to feel their little claws skittering on her back, clutching the offerings of honey and crickets they had brought for their grandfather.

As Arza descended into the family crypt, an odd smell enveloped her- not the usual musty odor of old bones, but something sharper... like the iron filings in the blacksmith's cave back home. She ignored it, turning the corner toward where her mate's bones were laid. Many other dragons of her family were laid to rest here, and she could name the graves and bones as she passed them. Great-Nonna Arfinne, cousin Uirgus, the little Shine, skull all eaten away by her disease. Her uncle Graundi's bones sprawled in a corner, his huge forked antlers still wrapped in burial amulets. The remains did not scare her, but filled her with a calm resignation, a feeling of safety and surety that even after all the years they remained as they had always been. Someday she would lay here too, and she was proud to say it. To lie among one's family is the greatest rest a dragon can receive. Her little grandchildren were nervous, so she named each body as she passed it, calming them a bit. She reached her mate's mound of soil and settled down. Her old bones creaked in protest. She and her grandchildren gazed in respectful silence at his grave. As the little ones placed their offerings on the slab with their grandfather's likeness, Arza stared down the dark corridor that led to the off-limits-to-visitors portion of the crypt, where those who had died violently were laid, so their angry, scared, or confused spirits would not be disturbed and could not escape to torment the living.

The odd smell radiated from there. She tensed. There hadn't been any recent deaths... why would it smell like... blood? It had to be blood. She heard a shuffling noise echo down the corridor. She stood, urging her little ones onto her back. She nodded quickly to her mate's grave in a goodbye and hurried to the exit of the chamber. Her old bones could not move as quickly or as stealthily as they once could, but she hurried the best she could to exit the crypt. She panicked. the whuffing breaths grew louder. She swung her head back and caught a glimpse of soulless purple eyes and an empty red grin. She screamed at her grandchildren to run. They scrambled from her back and darted up the stairwell. She called to them to run all the way home, to not look back. She truly hoped that they would listen.

She turned to face the thing approaching her. It was Sol. Nearly five years ago her sister in law had succumbed to a frightening illness, driving her mad. She had injured many of her kin before collapsing, foaming at the mouth. She had been buried in the deepest part of the crypt, in order to keep whatever had gripped her from escaping. The superstitious clan hardly spoke her name anymore, for fear of invoking whatever spirit had driven her to her madness.

Now her tiny frame approached Arza, dried blood splattered over her, her steps odd and jolting as if she was a puppet on strings. Arza batted a paw at her, trying to drive her away, but she sunk her teeth into the old dragon's scales as the paw passed, tripping her. Arza tried to fight as the undead Fae tried to ravage her face, but she was uncommonly strong and attacked with a feral intensity. She screamed as claws raked over her eyes, bones cracked under her back, driving shards into her skin. She hoped the hatchlings were safe... Oh, sweet Lightweaver, please let the hatchlings be safe...

-by ArcaneSong


JUST ONE HEARTBEAT - Blixemi

Sol: You've been trapped in your mind, your doubts tucked down below
But it's okay to be afraid, I'll show you all that I know
All I need is a heartbeat, just a breath, and I'm through
I can open up this world, I do this all for you.
I can see it in your eyes, my words ignite something inside
If you only knew the truth of those who hide within your skies
If you give me just one heartbeat I can show you the truth
I can open up my world and share it all with you.
Hollypaw: He knows something about the
Prophecy. We have to ask him what it means!
Lionpaw: Can we trust him?
Jaypaw: Well, he did know about the darkness before it happened.
Hollypaw: Well, what are we waiting for?!
Sol: I've got the answers to the wonders that you ponder
So you wander past your Thunder to a world
That's different from any other.
Little Jay heard me say the foretelling of the day
Of when the sun was pushed away
And the sky bled to grey.
But I can see you don't trust so easily
So let me share a breath of time
Trapped within my memories.
There's a kin of three who'll rise beyond a family tree.
That'll bring a whole new glory
To a fiery prophecy.
Bold Sol's an old soul.
I'm beyond Clans and patrols.
Old Sol's bold soul's goal's
To be in control.
Your prophecy can wait.
Black will take the bait.
It's time to finish what I started when I came to this lake.
Look around you at the stars, they're silent tonight.
They're nothing more than just fables, a long tradition full of lies.
If you silence one more heartbeat, Shadow's reign will come to view.
We can open up this world, and it's leader will be you.
StarClan refuses to answer your calls, Blackfoot.
They've abandoned you.
It's time you put your destiny...
Into your own paws.
Just when I thought I'd won, one stunt left me undone.
And my fate has plunged and spun into the paws of someone
Who is eager to believe her destiny's a high achiever.
So I'll reach her and I'll teach her
And eventually deceive her.
She can see that I lack her beliefs.
But if she gives me just one heartbeat,
Their defeat is in reach.
She is wrapped in her deceit.
Soon my task will be complete.
They'll be banished to a blackout,
Endless shadows I'll release!
Sol: I've got the answers to the wonders that I've conjured
While I've wandered past your Thunder
From a world that's different from any other.
Hollypaw: All I've ever wanted was to be something more...
Sol: I'll replay all I say of my foretelling of the day.
When the sun was pushed away, and the sky bled to grey.
But I can see they don't trust so easily.
So I will share a breath of time
Trapped within my memories.
Hollypaw: My family, the code, it's all I lived for...
Sol: There's a group of three who plead.
They're so blinded by their greed.
Who will make all of my work
Compose completely seamlessly.
Bold Sol's an old soul, I desire full control!
Old Sol's bold soul's goal's to evoke revolt.
Hollypaw: Am I wicked, right down to the core?
Sol: Your prophecy's my bait, and soon I will dictate.
All the choices of the voices who're around this lake.
But they can see that I lack their belief.
But if they give me just one heartbeat
Their defeat is in reach.
Hollypaw: I left him bleeding out on that stream shore...
Sol: I'll wrap them up in my deceit,
Soon my task will be complete.
They'll be banished to a blackout,
Endless shadows I'll release.
You stand faced here before my truth,
Yet you continue to hide.
You need me now more than ever.
I'm an escape for all your lies!
I see darkness in your heartbeat!
This Clan life you will lose!
You have opened up his world.
His blood was spilt on you.
All I need is a heartbeat.
Just a breath, and I'm through.
I will open up this world.
My sights are set on you.
Just a breath and I'm through...
I do this all because of you...
All I need is a heartbeat...