"You are no son to Rahambose."
"I'm not," I say to the purple crescent that is approaching me. My hands hug a tree, as my feet follow the trail of yellow: to take me to my right, in a flash. "I AM Rahambose."
Trinity's grin at my dodge fades as she stares at me – not for my words, but the green spreading up my arms and back. Vines form, with spikes digging at my back and above my head, as I grit my teeth to overcome the pain.
"The Rahambose-killer. I'm no Rahambose. I am… THE END."
I grip my fists together as I hyperventilate, with sparks tearing out of my chest. One crescent and another. Dodging it somehow faster than I am, faster than before. My body smashes into a tree at the third, and I fly up, with the rubble I create. The mess only shoots into one direction than many, just around me.
I feel the vines spreading down below me, leaving a tip at the very end. I don't find a shadow, but a yellow glow flowing just below me, on the ground – as I fly, no, shoot towards… forward. Only forward. I push my head, making my hair block my vision, and I breath out from my mouth, to move the parrot-green hair off my eyes.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
There you are.
Lightning spreads from my tail, to my sides, and I roar as the green hair flowing down my back: spread apart, to form two wings just below my neck. Vines spread and make thorns around my wings – which I push towards Trinity.
I see a smirk on Trinity's face as she whispers something.
***
"It's me… your Queen, Elena," Leo smirks.
"Le-" I try to say, but choke on my words, as I feel the sharp sting of the crescent blowing towards my neck, cutting back my words and hope.
"Trinity told me of this… so this is it. Your dear, weak, pink dragon. The one from Nightrale, right? Ugh… the cause of this whole mess. Hate would have bathed in more than two kids' blood if it weren't for her… but, perhaps now she is the key. Karma, am I right?"
No… this is wrong. This is a lie.
"It isn't a lie though," Leo laughs as Spythun, but his eyes turn to horror. "No. What is this kid — wai-"
As Spythun's mint eyes trace the roof of the cave to a specific spot, I hear a crack in Rainbow's humming. Spythun's body pushes me backwards, as he shuts his eyelids together. The red sparks turn to yellow, and then white real quick, but before I find them completely fading off their yellow: the roof of the cave collapses.
Wyrom's large body covers me as I still feel overwhelmed by the stone wall breaking down on us — Wyrom just grunts and lets me hear the rhythm of his heartbeat. As Spythun moves from above me, I find myself shutting my eyes. Not due to the dust, but the light in the previously, highly-relatively, dark cave.
I barely open my eyes… they sting to the bright yellow-light in the cave. Spythun stands up from beside me, and stares into it. Then Drego gets pushed back to the ground, where I hold her.
"That's Spythun," Drego grits her teeth, and I see her surprise reflecting mine… an Amphithere? So that's what he chose to be. Though I do not see it to be pra-
The red sparks race forward, as green sparks rise on Spythun's back… all the way down, covering the tip of his tail. No, just hairy spikes… I could see it, Spythun had made sure I learnt to look at things closer… those were tiny spikes… and yellow lightning escapes it slowly.
Ah, he said there were dragon festivals back on earth, with yellow-green wyrms. He used to describe it, like every other Earthly details, with such excitement. I could see him explaining to me like he had done back when he was young… younger.
"They have scary wide googly eyes, as if they can see everything before reaching a place. The humans held them, of course they were just props or kites of some kind… but they were scary fast. Running —no, flying through the wind, zapping like lightning: their wing-less bodies. However humans thought such things could fly without wings… even before they knew of dragons."
His wings now entirely fold into his spine, to make him look like a wyrm… his body zaps around like lightning, with his doubts of how the Amphithere could move —now cleared. But the red lightning persists-
"-SPYTHUN, DO NOT LET THEM TOUCH YOU. THEY ARE SICKENING."
I could see in her face that she couldn't describe it any other way, she only prays that her warning is enough. But the yellow lightning from Spythun crash out towards Rainbow – to clear a path, and so they crash right into the red lightning, enveloping.
"Spy…" Drego whispers.
"The eyes… are interesting senses," Spythun had told me. "You need to be sure to use every one of your senses properly, including your gut. Your soul. The dragon in you… sounds weird I know, but she can see clearer. You have to trust her to show it to you. Concentrate. Focus. And even when you can't let her out… let her be with you still."
I see it. The red lightning in contrast to Spythun's slim yellow-lines-in-space… looked like thick rods of red… bending out as strong branches from Rainbow's dragon-self who was with them… but as I see them engulf the yellow… I see them emanate a yellow light from within, cracks… golden cracks on the red… yet they race towards Spythun.
"ENOUGH!" Rainbow screams as the red lightning crashes into Spythun, sending him backward. But I hear Spythun's voice echo the same, and I immediately cover Drego as the yellow lightning explodes towards us; the entire space around Spythun gets blasted with yellow lighting.
The cave shakes ever so slightly… as if it has gotten used to Spythun from the first time he-
Something crashes next to us and Drego (now as Spythun) pushes me aside while turning into Tyle and shooting a red sword, while making another to stop the lava rushing towards us.
"Spythun!" I say, bending down and checking for wounds on him.
"Fine… if I cannot kill you as Rahambose, Rainbow is enough. ENOUGH!"
Green gas spreads in the place of fire, and a silver dragon smashes forward while just getting bounced back – creating a thin shield, stopping the spread of the gas. Yellow lightning sparks the gas and Line pushes his chest forward to absorb the blast.
"No, Drego!"
Violet fists push towards Line's chest and King Rustizen…
I move away as King Rustizen gets thrown towards and behind me. He just stares forward, lifelessly.
"Oh… you do not know many browns?" Rainbow asks. "What a shame."
I grab Spythun and drag him away, as golden hands try to grab me. They only crash towards the cave wall, and crawl towards us by pushing their fingers against the wall.
"Oh you sure can run. But…" he grunts, and a golden hand pushes me to the ground, making me roll forward, away from Spythun. "How long?"
"Until I can wear the goddamn ring!" I scream, grabbing one of the golden hand with the vines and swinging it towards the other. "Now…"
I put my hand out while spreading vines, the ring slips through my fingers and I brace for impact while gritting my teeth, with my face shining golden. I try to avoid it, but I end up looking towards my left-
-*
"You… can hear me?" Something asks, and my head feels like melting… but my figure helps me stay stable… as if there is a forcefield around my head. "I see you… I feel you. I couldn't, for a while now. You… tell me what happened."
"The famous Crystal-cave," I scoff in a voice that isn't mine. "Ex, if I may. Cause you cannot heed warnings."
"Do not mock me… you are not even him… or are you?"
I feel it glance at me, and I see too… but the two of us don't see Rustizen… we don't even see me… but a guy holding a… some kind of wooden stick, a club, shaped unusually for a club, and looking pretty light. The guy tosses the club towards me, and it passes right through me.
"I see… queens," it chuckles, and I feel my chest heat up in red. "Change forms, don't try to copy that gem… it has been corrupted, even when it is the only one I could save."
I do so, and I'm out of the room and in… darkness.
"So this is where you are? Nowhere? Finally?"
"I'll let you mock me… it was silly and terrible… I should've let Skyto tell me, than playdate with him. But child… soon to be a LEGEND… heed my words… trust your old-new friend only half… the other half is with me. Who knows what half she has turned to be now?"
"I-" I say, but something constricts my fingers and they go numb immediately. "What in the world?"
"Oh… alright. Stay still for a second, while I just…"
"AAAAGHHHHH!" I scream, feeling the intense pain as when I had turned to Queen Elena. "THIS BETTER BE GOOD!"
"We all need a prodigy. And it takes pain and worse…"
I scream while going forward with claws of a monster I had only heard of… Wyrom's strength helps me tear apart the golden hands, as I use Spythun's slim but fine legs to step quickly.
"Hailo. Hailo!" I try to wake her up.
"Ugh, you kids… you think you are a match? You can't even take a small beating. And Rahambose?" Rainbow mocks and starts turning red, as red sparks surround him again as he turns into that… thing… some kind of… a beast. Soon, he only looks like a faceless grey monster, and the red virus spreads towards me.
"I think I understand," I say.
I cannot fathom make the green wings, but the form of an Amphithere… a yellow one, shooting forward like electricity… I understand. I dig, breaking past the red rods moulding into the space.
"This is getting annoying," he says as he makes the exact form of me – with Spythun's legs, Wyrom's strength, and an Attear's claws.
I grin while turning back into my normal form.
"You are some kind of a scientist, aren't you?" I draw out the dagger I had taken from Hailo's grasp, and slash it to the Attear claws – of course the blade breaks, but they leave a scar right at the nail-fold. "Tell me."
I groan as I stand my ground, bracing for the claws to leave a scar on me – and they do, ruthlessly, but my grin doesn't fade. No… I see drops of blood drip towards the floor, so how could I not grin?
"What happens when a Primevel hurts an Attear?"
The blood doesn't fall to the floor, no. It stops, as if gravity had just… no, as if time had stopped, but I feel myself heave to bear with the scar on my neck, pressing down my palm against it.
As the droplets roll in a kind of centrifuge in their position, I ready myself. I roll my palm in the same motion, and as it strikes towards me, I form a (force-field) hexagon to hold it in place, but it breaks into pieces, making me step away.
"Hmmm," I hear, as time freezes again, more gems join his back, as he his form quivers under the mountain of gems. "What do you plan?"
"Uh…" I say, as the blood chases towards me. I quickly see Spythun and change into his form, and once I look back… it is gone. "That," I smile, but like a bullet, something pierces into me, and I see black again.
"Hmm. You again. Just use little Hailo's powers, are you slow?" it mocks me.
I do so, and pounce forward. The beast with a mountain on his back, just moves as even Spythun's blade is unable to cut him. Didn't he feels pain just earlier when each gem was sitting on him? How is he moving like that?
"There is nothing you can do. I have already won. In the end…" Rainbow says and grabs my hand, disarming me, "…it is ALWAYS…" I see fire and lighting build-up in his mouth, but turn away because of the stink, "RAHAMBOSE."
"Hmm…" I hum. "Is something supposed to happen, or…?"
"What is this?" he asks.
"I think…" I uppercut his throat and flip to stand back on my ground, I somehow balance-back on my wobbly feet. "Honestly, I have no idea. Come find out," I taunt him by taking a boxing stance.
"Gladly," he smiles with his long and perfectly white teeth.