My home has been burned to the ground by dragonfire.
I land on my feet amidst the ashes, feeling as hollow as Nyth's empty bones. The ground is scorched black, and the vegetation is charred to a crisp, and my talons cut through a thick mat of ash and soot as I walk on shaky legs toward the center of my skyland. My forests are gone. My garden is incinerated. My castle is demolished. My pools are dried out. My pets are dead.
Burned. Burned. Burned.
It cannot be real. And yet… I'm looking at it.
It's right there in front of me. Just below.
A dozen long twisted skeletons and scraps of charred flesh are all that remains of my giant serpents. I stumble into the pool's basin, which I dug out by myself with only my hands, and my numb legs trudge step by step closer to the dead. When I get to them, my legs give out on me, and I fall to my knees amidst the ashes and the bones.
I cannot believe this is real. I cannot believe this is real.
I cannot believe this.
"Slippy," I whisper as my hands grasp onto one of the skeletons, as if by my touch they will somehow be brought back to life. I can't tell which one is Slippy. Holding them all to my chest, eyes welling up with tears, my lower lip quivering, I plead, "Come… Come back… No…"
The dead stay dead.
There's laughter behind me.
"Look, she's crying over the fucking crawlers!"
"I thought she'd break down just seeing the castle."
"Not so radiant now, are you, rotblood?"
I know those voices. Dragons of the Valiant Order.
Raiden, Kayus, and Lucien. Hilde's friends.
Numbness sedates me and I cannot even scream.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Hilde shouts. "How fucking dare you three? Wh–Why would you even–Why did you… Oh, Hells, I'm going to be sick. How did you fucking skinks get past the barrier?"
"Hey, easy there, Hildegard. You're far out of line. Watch your words and your tone. Or we might have to reconsider your involvement with the Order."
"Isn't it obvious though? We followed you through. Left the door wide open for us, didn't you? Giant fucking thing like you, all we had to do was ride your slipstream. Thanks for the assist there!"
"And why are you mad in the first place? Since when do you give a damn about that worthless little raptor? You should be laughing with us, if anything! There's a corner of the castle still standing, how about you lighten up and go knock that over? Join the fun!"
"This is fun to you? Destroying people's homes, their gardens and waters and lands, the places they fucking build for themselves? You really get your kicks punching people in the fucking teeth like this? That's absolutely repulsive!"
"Oh, what's the issue, really? Come on, it's just a harmless prank! And it's such an easy fix. It'll take the builders less than a day with their magic."
"She built this place herself, you fucking imbeciles! Carved out the soil and rock with her own hands, planted those gardens seed by seed, and grew those trees over the course of decades! Even worse! Much, much, much fucking worse! You killed her pets? How in the Hells do you even justify cruelty that extreme?"
"What? They're crawlers. Senseless little animals."
"Dumber than rocks, that's for sure. Not a damn clue."
"Yeah, it hardly matters. They're just as easily replaced."
"Right, she can just buy some new ones at the market!"
"Or, Hells, go grab them up off Avi. They're easy to find."
"Nyth's bones. You… You have no idea," Hilde says with a cold and quiet voice. "You have no idea. No fucking idea. What you've done. To her. To Crimson. She's never done a damn thing to hurt any of you, and yet you destroy her like it's a fucking joke. Why? Is there a reason? What… What could she have possibly done to deserve something like this?"
"Big brutes like you aren't much for mental faculties, eh? We told you, Hildegard. Three days ago, we talked about this. Why do you think we did it?"
"Well, you just said it, Raiden. She hasn't a damn clue!"
"Fret not, for I will graciously refresh your spotty memory, dear Hildegard. The bumbling little rotblood raptor stole the solo summons from… Well, literally everyone who properly deserved it."
"Yeah, and then getting named a Radiant for something that never should've been her charge in the first place? That honor should have been anyone's but hers."
"Right, right, and what's next? She stole that promotion. Who's to say she would've stopped there? Next thing you know, the filth could've been nominated for the Valorant, for all we know."
"Better to remind the raptor of her place. Before it gets any ideas about somehow being special. It was a fluke that got it here. And here is as far as it will go. So long as we can do something about it."
Zip sighs, "Shit, it must be tough to be so inbred. I almost feel sorry for you three."
Penelope's soft laughter is discordant.
"I don't even know what to say," Hilde grumbles, and I hear her tail thumping on the ground. "Besides that you should fly far away. Immediately. Otherwise…" Fire roars and crackles and plumes, illuminating everything around me in blue, and cutting out a sharp silhouette of my body before me. Hilde growls through clenched teeth, "We may have to see just how valorant you sorry little drakes really are."
"Oh? You're raising flames against us?"
"Tisk tisk, Hildegard. Sure brings your status into question."
"Are you really dumb enough to threaten us? One word of this to the Legends and you'll be dropped from our ranks without so much as a hearing."
"Fuck you. Fuck your stupid club. You're nothing but vultures pretending to be swans. Just a handful of fucking rats writhing in your own filth. I should kill you for this. I just might kill you for this. Hang the consequences. You cretins are no better than the Wretched. Shame on you."
"Ohh, death threats now. That's immediate expulsion."
"Not if you don't survive to tell the tale, Lucien."
"Better fly, better fly," Zip adds with a lilt. "Or I might lose my temper too."
"And who the fuck are you, exactly?"
"The one you'll never escape from."
"Leave," Penny hisses. "I will turn you inside out."
"Why are we even bothering with these rejects?"
"Much better things to do. Have a pint, boys?"
"So long as you're paying, Kayus! Hahah!"
Wings beat a few dozen times and then it's quiet.
I have not moved muscle. The serpents are still in my arms.
"Red," Hilde calls out, and I feel her come up behind me. "Red, pl–please, you have to–You have to believe me, I didn't know! I didn't know they–they followed me through! I didn't know they were planning this! I'm so fucking sorry, Crimson, I'm so sorry!"
"I know. Blue. I know."
"I'm sorry," she weeps, her voice quivering. "I'm so sorry. If I knew, I swear to you, Crimson, I swear I would've–"
"I know, Hilde."
"Because I haven't–I know I haven't stood up for you as often as I should've, and I fucking hate myself for that, but this is way too far–"
"Hilde. I know."
"Hey," Zip says. "Come on, Hildy. Come here. I've got you."
"I'm sorry, Crimson. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"
Nothing. Nothing. There's nothing. I am empty.
The mirror of my life is no longer cracked.
The mirror is now utterly shattered.
I can't move. I can't think. I can't breathe.
They're dead. They're dead. They're gone forever.
My serpents. My turtles. My birds. My drakes…
Everyone. All of my friends. All of my pets. My family.
They were burned alive. Burned. How horrific.
It must have been agony. They died in pain.
And here I am, still alive. Clinging to their corpses.
There's nothing left. This place is incomprehensible.
I've never seen such a sight of miserable ruin.
This, the end of it all. This, the end of my life here.
Finally, I manage to move. It isn't much. I don't go far.
All I do is fall. Onto my side. And I curl up very small.
And I cry like I've never cried before.
I have reached my breaking point.
My family's bones fall from my arms.
With a violent push of my wings, I take flight.
I'm going to demand answers from the Seraphim.