9 Chapter 9

Rykirus was wandering around the swampy lands, wings batting away the hanging branches, his night vision supremely helpful at this time of night. His shadow magic had proven useful in shielding himself from predators of all kinds, and Rykirus had just learned to summon undead creatures. That's why a zombie wolf and a bear were loping by his side. The wolf looked like it was burned, the flesh on half his face completely melted away and splotches of skin were carved out along with one of his ears. The bear wasn't that damaged, it was killed recently so it hadn't started to decay yet; It had a stab wound on its stomach that looked lethal and was probably the killing blow.

It had been about a year since he overheard the group of five talking, and he finally decided to make his move. In that time, Rykirus has been training, fighting, and killing the occasional human that stumbled into his home. Now, he was exploring for the allies he would need to take the demon king's sword back, the shades. From his past knowledge, shades could possess a being that had been infected by a dragon's poison. Most have countermeasures for the poison, but, 'If they're alone, they can't apply the antidote before they're possessed' he thought, a slight curl of his lips and the vicious gleam in his eye would send a shiver down anyone's back.

A snarl from his wolf and the sound of a branch breaking broke Rykirus from his thoughts. His head snapped up, lip curling up to show his razor-sharp teeth, and a growl rumbled in his chest. Standing in front of him was a shade. It was a humanoid figure, raven hair reached to his shoulders and his skin was ghostly pale. His ears were sharp, eyes slanted like a feline's, and wispy, black smoke whirled around his feet. He wore leather armor with a tattered black cape snapping in the wind and finger-less gloves with metal plates on the back.

"Who are you intruder?" His voice was silky, smooth, but it still held the threat and warning.

Rykirus puffed out his chest proudly, "I am Rykirus of NightBlade, drake," he said, projecting his voice like he saw his father do whilst talking to his subjects.

"NightBlade?" the shade's eyes narrowed, "I have heard of all the NightBlades and have never heard of you."

"I wasn't done," Rykirus stated, amused, "I am Rykirus, son of the late Hell's Wrath, and King of NightBlade," he deflated slightly and grumbled, "Not that anyone knows since Vyrix insists on keeping me a secret."

There was stunned silence before, "That... sounds like Vyrix," he choked out. Rykirus startled, he had been too busy thinking and hadn't been paying attention to the shade. Why did he sound like he couldn't breathe? He looked at the shade, 'that's what he looks like too,' he thought. Indeed, the shade was pale, paler than normal, he was sucking in ragged breaths of air like he just got sucker punched in the gut, and his hand were on a tree, supporting him.

"Hey..." he said, waving a claw in front of his face, concerned, "Are you alright?" It wouldn't do to have his maybe-escort just faint, that would screw everything up... Oh, and he was worried about the scout, yeah... let's go with that.

"'m f-fine, I'm fine," he didn't look fine, he looked like he was about to puke, "I just didn't know the King had a son," he groaned putting his other hand to his face, "I made a bet with big money that he wouldn't have eggs for another year, that's all. I'm just nauseous, it'll go away."

Rykirus eyed him incredulously, "All that just because you're losing some stupid gold??!!" this was no time to be exaggerating! He needed to get to the Queen of the shades ASAP, 'I swear, if I don't kill another human soon, I'm gonna go crazy. Not to mention that freakin' Zy-what's-his-face, egotistical bastard, wanna smash his stupid face in,' his claw twitched slightly, but other than that, he gave no sign of his thoughts.

"No, that's not all!" he stated, offended, "I lost the trust of my queen!" he put the back of his hand to his forehead and his other to his heart, "Oh woe is me," he said, dramatically. He sighed, "Not that gold is stupid!" he stated glaring at the drake, "It was such a large amount."

"Ohhhh...Kayyyy," Rykirus said slowly, "You know, I'm not sure you're okay, your mood is changing drastically," he eyed the shade who was busy making ridiculous poses, "You're very..."

The shade's eyes snapped to him, "What?! Special? Amazing? Spectacular? Spamazacular?!"

"I was gonna say... unique, but those work too... I guess," he sighed before his face scrunched up, "And what in the realms is Spama-whatchamacallit?"

"Oh, Spamazacular?" he asked, beaming, "It's a combination of special, amazing, and spectacular! I came up with it, so that means I'm spamazacular!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms up and spinning around.

"I don't think that's how it works," Rykirus put a claw on his snout, praying for patience, "Anyway, back on topic," he drew himself up, "As a member of NightBlade, I request a meeting with the Queen of the shades."

The scout turned serious, "Very well, all NightBlades have this right," he turned around and glanced over his shoulder, "Follow me," and with that, he leaped away, the dragon jumping off the ground, wings beating, to catch up to the quickly disappearing speck. The poor undead were left staring at their master until he too was gone.

Rykirus was following the shade until he suddenly stopped, dropping out of the trees in front of two guards. They were having a hushed conversation, one he couldn't make out with the wind whistling in his ear. By the time Rykirus dropped gracefully from the trees, talons sinking into the soil and wings folding neatly by his side, the two guards had already stepped away and his guide beckoned him through the gates.

Rykirus followed the shade through the encampment, heading towards the largest tent, surrounded by dozens of smaller ones, in silence. Around the camp, there were other shades, watching him carefully, some were sharpening weapons and talking to another, pretending not to see him, but he could see their eyes flickering to his form. Others were not so subtle, outright pointing at him and talking in stage-whispers.

"Is that a dragon?"

"It's a NightBlade! It has to be, they wouldn't let in anyone else!"

"I've never seen one this close..."

"Didn't their king die?"

"What's he doing here?"

"Don't mind them," his guide said, walking undeterred towards the giant tent getting ever closer, "They're just curious, that's all. They mean no harm."

And Rykirus would believe him if not for the looks in their eyes. Fear, wariness, cautiousness, and the awe Vyrix spoke of are all present in their eyes. He knows that they know the reality of this cruel world. Where children die every day, the unexpected occurs often, resulting in death, and your comrade one day, could be your enemy the next. All in all, death, death, and more death. This isn't a world where you can be merciful, it's world where you kill or get killed, where you don't hesitate to kill them, because they won't return the favor.

Rykirus is snapped out of his thoughts by someone prodding him. He glanced up and saw the concerned face of his guide. He doesn't know his name he never asked, or maybe he just forgot? Rykirus shook his head to clear his thoughts, "Sorry, spaced out there," he mumbled.

His guide nodded, "Come on," he said gesturing toward the flap of the tent. Rykirus nodded and stepped forward, the guide swept the tent flap open and the drake strode forward confidently, the flap settling back in place after he entered.

Rykirus had no time to study his surroundings before his eyes were drawn to the shade in front of him, the queen. She was dressed in armor, not dresses like most queens wear. It was armor that was black as night, metal mixed with leather to provide comfort, mobility, and protection. A bow and quiver filled with arrows was slung across her back.

She smiled warmly, light green eyes sparkling, "Welcome, young drake. I am Kayra, Queen of the shades, and allies to the NightBlade."