Beginning of the End

[Dwayna DragonFire]

I don't really know why I'm bothering. But this was an idea I just couldn't get out of my head. I'm going to see where this goes.

***

Prologue

Running. That's all she could think about, was running. All she wanted, needed to do, was run. She zigzagged across the ground beneath her feet, never tripping, stumbling, or looking back for a moment. She needed to survive, to hide from the people that were chasing her. Black hair flowed out behind her as she ran, the air passing through it like it was fluid, or even air itself. She seemed to glide gracefully as she ran, like an animal trying to avoid its predator. That's what she felt like; like the prey of these people, who only wanted her because of what she could do, the powers that she possessed.

The sun beat down on her ghostly pale skin, as if this was the first time that she had gone out into the open, and still she ran, never breaking a sweat. This seemed strange for someone who looked like her, and the fact that she was wearing all black didn't help this fact. Her clothes were tattered and worn with age, dirty with all the years that they had been on her skin, and yet she was exceedingly clean otherwise, like her skin was made of water or air itself, except that it was solid, and very real.

At last it seemed as if she had found salvation. In front of her seemed to be a large rock face, the bottom of a cliff. Her cold, ice-blue eyes saw something else, a large cave, as if the whole thing was an illusion to keep out intruders. She glanced back, to see the small shadows of the people chasing her trying desperately to catch up, and she ran forward again, closing her eyes as if expecting the impact, think that it might be a hallucination.

Yet nothing happened. She phased right through, into the cave that had appeared before her very eyes, and her curious nature got the best of her. She looked back, seeing that the shadows had caught up, that they were looking in bewildered and confused, or rather at the rock face with the same emotions. They could not see what she saw, and they could not come in like she could. She was safe from them, at least for now.

She turned away and stepped further into the cave, walking slowly and cautiously, as if she was expecting something to just jump out at her, remembering that this cave had been hidden by something in the first place. She followed the twists and turns of the cave, trusting her instincts, feeling her way throughout the darkness until at the end of one tunnel, she could see a faint light, seemingly made of different colors of light in different places. She walked down towards the light, and her cold eyes gazed on in wonder and amazement, even though any emotion at all didn't seem to fit her face quite right.

There were several pieces of small bones strewn across the cave floor, as if small animals had died here, but that wasn't the main attraction. A large nest of small branches laid in front of her with several different coloured eggs, each a different size than the other, each giving off its own color of glow, and some of which had swirling, dancing patterns, as if the shells themselves were alive. She felt drawn to them, and started to move closer, but then she heard a monstrous growl coming from the darkness that loomed behind the eggs.

She stopped to look up, and out from the darkness came a dark green, beastly, scaly face, glowering at her with red orbs for eyes and slits for pupils. Deadly looking horns grew from its face, one from its nose, and several more atop its head; and the rest of the face looked jagged, almost poisonous in quality, like some of the sharp teeth that slipped out of its mouth as it continued to snarl at her.

She felt a sudden pressure on her mind, as if there was something else in there, searching for something. She soon realised it was the creature before her, searching for answers as to who she was, why she had come here, and how she had seen the cave beneath the glamour so keenly set. The beast seemed to get its answers, it calmed significantly, but still looked on warily, and when a deep, male voice came into her head, she knew it could only be the beast.

"So you are running from them because they know you are a being somewhat like me. One that should only be made of myth according to the way that they see things. They want to test you, to see what sorts of things you can do. You want no part of it." The beast thought this all out matter-of-factly towards her, and she nodded, confirming his statements, and soon finding the courage to speak herself, her voice smooth and dark, like liquid velvet rolling off her tongue.

"What are you? What are they? Will you let me stay?" She said all of this with hope and need in her voice. She would do anything to escape her captors, anything to be safe. If this beast agreed to her request then he would be her saviour, and she would owe him everything. It seemed to understand all of this, as he was still reading into her mind at the time, and replied in kind.

"I am a dragon, perhaps the last of my kind. These are the remaining eggs of my sisters and friends, and they will soon die if they do not gain the love of the mother they were meant for. As for if I will let you stay..." The dragon mulled it over in his head; she could feel it, "... I will grant your wish." She was overjoyed, and wished for nothing but to throw her arms around the dragons neck, if it hadn't been for the ‘but' that lingered in the air, in her mind, and her attention turned back towards the dragon, asking what he wanted from her. He gave a great heave and spread his wings in a welcoming manner towards the nest at his feet, revealing the eggs at his feet.

"Time is short for me and for you as well. I will die soon, but I do not want to do it without knowing that there will be a chance that they will live. I am aware of what you can do, so I ask you this." It looked very pained, and she could feel the distress as the pride within the beast withered at having to ask this of something that was not of his kind. It heaved once more, as if sighing, and then spoke again. "For every life that you have to take from someone, that you give to one of these children, will be a year that you will be safe. There is only enough time for you to give life to ten of them as you can only use that power once a week. Some of these eggs will die, so I ask that you choose wisely."

***

It had already been ten years, and she was mourning her loss as the day came that she knew she was finally going to die. Her children would live on, probably miserably as they would be brought into captivity by the monsters that were still looking for her. But she also knew that they would keep them alive as long as possible, and that was the only wish that the dragon had imparted upon her. To keep the children alive.

She had chosen ten eggs, and ten remained, some already having cracks in them. At the center of each egg now seemed to be a gem, each one of different shape and different color. The woman, now barely covered by her rags, finally revealed her neck to the world, showing that at the core of her being, there laid a gem too. It was the cold blue color of her eyes, and it shone faintly, as if it knew what was coming as well as she did.

They were coming, and she had to act fast. She went to the bones of the long dead dragon behind her, shedding tears for the loss of her saviour one last time, as he would be saving her life again within this moment, and soon he would know it. Soon she would be joining him, wherever he was in the afterlife, and this is what she thought about as she tore a claw bone from the remnants of his hand and stabbed it into the gem, into the core of her being.

When they came for her, they took nothing but the eggs, seeing how she had kept them alive with what they liked to call her Soul Gems. The only things left in the cave were the bones of the dragons, the broken rotted shells of the eggs that had not hatched. But most importantly, they left behind the shattered gem on the ground, of which the shards spelled a name that the children would never forget.

Nerezza.

 

[Plapti]

Very intriguing start Dwayna. It has caught my interest and how you take this story will be a sight to see. I can think of a couple of ways to take it, but I'm not the author.

But your writing is also descriptive, and I love that.

 

[Pheonix]

MMmmmm... Dragons, and soulstone dragons too! ^^

Very reminiscent of a series I read. But that is beside the point. I loves it. Can't wait to see what has happened to the children.

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

Chapter One

When the shipments went out to the other nine Ayx team of the Ayx Corporation, no information was given other than that there would be powerful beings at their disposal, to do with as they wished. The Ayx team that had sent them out kept one for themselves, of course - the egg that was almost fully hatched. This egg in particular was plain black, and other than being almost fully hatched, it had no other exciting marks or anything. The only thing that stood out was the glowing, crimson, diamond-shaped gem in the center of it.

The people in charge put the egg into a tank, full of a reddish rejuvenating substance called bacta fluid, which is said to be capable of healing even the most grievous wounds, promoting regeneration and growth of tissue. This particular kind of bacta fluid was oxygenated liquid matter, and designed to be able to stay in the lungs without rupturing the air pockets. It was perfect for growing eggs like this one, and all of the other Ayx teams followed suit.

Soon enough the first egg hatched, the crimson glow from the diamond expanding outwards and forming itself into something larger than the Ayx people expected. What it eventually formed into didn't look like a child at all - it was, in fact, a fully grown woman. Black hair then started to grow from her head, cascading over her pale white face. She looked a lot like her mother, almost a complete clone except for her gem, which was just different in color. Then as a first sign of life, the creature opened her eyes, and they seemed to glow a deep, soulful red like her diamond-shaped gem, sparkling like rubies.

When you looked closely, the elements of being part dragon were there. She had slits for pupils, her ears had small ridges down their sides; and her finger and toe nails were sharp, almost claw-like. The monitors all started beeping frantically, and the people nearest to the tank all started to feel a push in the backs of their minds, a searching sensation, as if trying to learn... and then the voice came, a bit on the cheery side, almost bubbly in nature.

"Hello, humans. I understand you took me from my mother not too long ago, and wish to raise me to do your bidding. I would be glad to be of assistance of course, but for a price." The woman smiled then, fangs slipping out of the sides of her mouth. They looked at each other reluctantly, and immediately went to their boss, telling him what had happened. He peered at them through his dark glasses, straightening the brim of his black hat, and spoke in dark tones.

"We need to know what she wants before we agree to this proposition." So the group - with boss in tow - bustled back towards the tank, and spoke aloud to the being inside the tank before them. The woman smiled her sharp smile and projected images into their heads. Clothing, consumables, and the basics she needed to live appropriately. It was a simple request, and almost seemed too easy. As long as they took care of her, she would be able to give them what they wanted.

The boss agreed to this proposition with no hesitation, smiling evilly at the thought of such power at his hands for so little of a request. They named her Chastity at her request, and went about their work. She was soon dressed in a long, crimson gown to match her eyes, and nice black shoes. They thought that this was the most powerful being of the bunch, simply because of the fact that she had hatched first, and was so willing to give them as much power as they wanted so easily.

However, as more eggs egg hatched into different beings, each with their different themes, studies were closely done to see just how much power each being had, and it was concluded that they all had the same amount of power, regardless of how different the beings turned out to be. They were so different it was hard to believe that they came from the same mother, but they all still had one thing in common, of course. The soul gems still glowed brightly at the core of their being, which seemed to be at the base of their throats. The Ayx team, known only as the Ayx Corporation, thought that every one of the eggs that hatched was going to be as susceptible to their attempts at getting the beings to work for them as the first one was.

The Ayx team soon found out just how wrong they were. Some of the beings that hatched were outright ferocious towards them, and had to be restrained and confined in a tightly secure room. Others stayed silent, completely neutral towards what was going on around them. But there was one being in particular that was oddly peculiar, the final being to hatch. The egg in question was silver in color, with green, swirling highlights that danced around as if they were alive. In the center was a circular green gem, glowing brightly in the center.

When the egg hatched, however, what was peculiar about it was that there wasn't anything there. The normal curling and twisting of the body taking form happened, but afterwards nothing appeared, it was as if the being in question was invisible. The gem still glowed with life, so the Ayx team kept everything as it was, monitoring the tank closely for any changes.

Suddenly, a few days later, the outline of a torso and a head formed soon being covered with skin. The being appeared to be female, or at least seemed to be becoming that from the look of the torso, and the head sprouted thick brown hair that extended just past her shoulders. Emerald wings unfolded from her back and disappeared just as quickly, as if they were an illusion. Her eyes stayed closed, however, as if she in a deep slumber, and everyone wondered what had caused this reaction.

Then the news came that someone had died in the lab recently. An incorrect mixture of chemicals had blown everything this person's arms and legs to pieces. What was peculiar about the scene was that all the blood from the incident was gone as if it hadn't happened; only leaving the bloody limbs and body to clean up. They looked towards the creature uneasily, and the only explanation was that the loss of this life had helped to create her own life. For her to open her eyes another accident probably had to occur, and this made them uneasy, causing them to put her under constant watch.

Late at night, another death happened but this time it wasn't as gruesome as the last. The person in question lost their left arm and right leg in another two explosions and bled to death without any notice towards it. The person on watch looked up to see her finally opening her eyes. Glowing green orbs peered down at the person in question, and all they remembered before they closed again were a pair of striking violet eyes staring right back up at her.

Later the other people in the Ayx team came to view what had happened to the being, and saw that she was alive with soulful eyes staring back at them. Cruelly, they decided to pull her out of the tank as she was, plopping her on a table with their smartest scientist. After they left him with her absolutely bewildered at the whole thing, he calmed down and went over to assess her condition. In this state, she wouldn't be able to function properly, and people would be watching themselves carefully.

He stared down at her scared eyes, and she stared back up at him. He had rectangular purple shades and black hair that reached to his chin. He wore a lab coat, but underneath was a violet shirt and a pair of black pants, almost casual. All placed as if to exemplify how much respect he got, how much it would take for them to fire him, if they ever did at this rate. She was frightened about what he would do to her, what he would think of her.

She was surprised when he walked out, coming back with clothing in hand. He assisted her to get dressed, and she found the clothing was conveniently cut where her limbs were missing. He then set to work on something metal, and she watched his experienced hands as they formed things. What it was that he was making didn't occur to her until they really started to take shape. They looked like an arm and a leg, specifically the ones she was missing. She smiled and watched him work into the night, as if he never tired of it, and soon he was delving into the metal appendages with wires and circuitry like she had never seen.

When he was finally finished, he walked over to her with the new limbs and placed them where they were supposed to be. She laid still and felt the robotic appendages affix themselves to her, and felt energy surge through her body as they became one with her system. They seemed to attune to her personality, becoming sharp at certain places, giving her a dangerous look. She looked to the man in confusion, and finally spoke for the first time, in a sort of calm, medium tone that was a tad gravely in texture.

"Why did you help me?" She asked this question and looked at him intently for an answer. It was then that his glasses changed in color, becoming almost crimson, as if they were blushing for him. He felt an emotion for her that she couldn't register just yet in her mind, but whatever it was; he felt it despite knowing her power came from others pain. She didn't know what he would do just then, but he leaned in towards her, so close that they could almost press their noses together. Unexpectedly, he pushed up his shades and looked into her eyes, showing her the violet orbs that she had seen in her dreams since she had first opened her eyes.

He lifted her in his arms with seemingly no effort at all, and she felt that his strength was inhuman, pondering if he was a robot himself. He walked straight out the door with her in tow, and dropped her to her feet. She felt what he wanted for her to do then; to save her sisters and brothers form their torment. She gave him her silent promise, and walked off into the night, knowing that it wouldn't be easy.

The last sentiment she gave him before she extended her wings and flew off into the night was that if she succeeded, she would one day return to him, and save him too.

 

[Sami]

=0 This is quite the interesting ficcu indeed. I love the beginning. The part with the glasses 'blushing' for the scientist was so cute. I'm also curious for the Black dragon, since she looked the most like Nerezza. Wish I knew the scientists name. D:

Great thus far, Dway. ^_^​

 

[Plapti]

Very interesting yes Dway. The descriptions are very awesome. You've left a great amount of intrigue to set the next chapter. It's an awesome feelig for the reader, like me.

Swicked Job.

 

[Shiny Motley]

Wow, Dway. I saw this on dA, so I guessed you had posted this on 'Charms.

Anyways, I love this story already. Personally I didn't expect the eggs to hatch into a sort of human-dragon hybrid. I love the last part of the first chapter, though. You really know how to suck me into a story, Dway.

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

thanks so much for the comments, guys. Here's another chapter for your reading pleasure.

Chapter Two

Deep into the forest she walked, winding her way around the trees, her metal appendages glimmering in the moonlight. She felt guided by something unknown to her, and wondered slightly if the scientist had done something. She stopped for a second to rest against a tree and looked over her new limbs, admiring the work he had put into them. Perhaps he had given her a mental map of which ways to go to get to wherever she needed to go through the wiring in them.

Her new right leg was sharp at the toes and knee, affixing itself firmly to the stump that she had grown from one of the accidents. Attached over her left shoulder stump was the new arm, which had become sharp at the shoulder, the elbow, and of course her fingertips, giving them a claw-like quality. In the center of the palm was a circular device, much like the gem at her throat, shining just as brightly with power. She wondered briefly what it was about her personality that had caused the appendages to sharpen, before coming to the conclusion with a slightly downcast look, green orbs staring through eyelashes. She was dangerous; a monster.

Yet with these thoughts in mind, she pushed herself off the tree and pressed on, knowing what she had to do. The forest was thinning around her slowly, and she noticed some surprisingly black shocks of electricity in wires beneath her feet, the small rivulets of light leading away from the source of their power into the ground. She followed them, and out of curiosity, touched one with her metallic toe.

Powerful energy surged through her body, some of the black shocks appearing around her leg as they came into her person. She braced herself for the pain, but it didn't come. Instead, she felt renewed and whole, her gem glowing all the more brightly, her arm surging with electric power as well. Her eyes flashed slightly before some of the armours' design changed yet again. Her shoulder pad and knee gained a red gem in the center - shaped to match the general shape of the pads- and some sparkling circular green gems around them.

Her fingers on her hand became entire claws, much sharper than before, making her more dangerous. Finally, the device in her palm burned a fiery red color, showing a black insignia that registered in her mind as being infused with the power of fire itself. She pressed one of her claws into the device momentarily, and out spouted a small flame. A fanged smirk came to her lips, and she extinguished the flame just as soon as it had come. This was going to be fun.

Finally, she came to a great opening in the trees, and the large building in the center of it came into view. It was much like the laboratory that she had come from, but that came as no surprise. She walked up to the front of the grey building, looking up to see the large A glowing back down at her, the same black color as the electricity shocks.

With newfound energy in tow, she thrust her newly sharpened claws into the door, ripping it off at its hinges. She barely heard the alarms going off around her with the adrenaline pounding in her ears. She would be encountering trouble soon, but none of that seemed to matter as she continued to follow the black wires to whatever she was going to find at the other end. She knew somewhere in her heart that it was one of her siblings, and that was all that was prominent in her mind.

She tore down any doors in her path without effort, and as she felt a sort of nearing sensation, she held out her metal hand at the next door and concentrated. A fireball started to form in her hand very quickly, and shot out towards the door, destroying it in an explosion around her, but she was deaf to it all. She lost all sense of everything but accomplishing her goal.

Finally, she found the room where the black glow was most prominent. It was then she gained the ability to hear again, and the screaming behind it was almost too much to bear. She tore through the door in her way, and was met by a sight that could have made her cry.

At the center of the black glow there was a being much like herself, chained to some sort of machine by bionically wired clasps. The fleeting idea that the Ayx team obviously looked for the best scientific minds passed by her before she focused back on the reality before her. Crimson hair flowed out over the face of the creature, and black, dangerous looking wings met her eyes. The most disturbing thing, though, was that there was a single wire attached to the gem at her throat, sucking out all the black energy that came from her. Her eyes were a lifeless, tunnelling black, screaming with her for help.

Metallic fingers ripped through the machinery almost instantly, tearing through the wire that was depleting her sisters life. The being fell loosely into the arms of the girl before her, taking deep, gasping breaths. Gently, the crimson-haired beauty was lowered onto the ground, as life returned to her black orbs for eyes. She looked up at her saviour, and instantly felt their similarities. Her mind was out of focus, so she formed the only question that could coherently come to mind, in a dark, almost demonic voice.

"Who are you?"

The brunette with the metallic limbs turned away for a second, as if deep in thought. Her arm suddenly jolted outwards, impacting with the chest of someone who had ran this way, the life draining from their eyes. More power surged through her body, and she almost expected her metallic limbs to fall off because of the new death, closing her eyes in fear. She opened her eyes to find herself still intact, just covered in blood from the injury she had just made. She was whole because of the scientist, and she didn't even think to ask his name. Remembering that she was supposed to come up with one herself, she turned her face slightly back towards her damaged sister, and gave her soft reply.

"Call me Dwayna."

Dwayna's sister rose to her feet, stepping over to the woman that her sister had just befallen with her metallic hand. She brushed a pale hand over the dead face of the woman, and soon got a searching look about her. She turned towards Dwayna, her black triangle of a gem burning brightly with light.

"You can call me Aria. It's a pleasure to meet you, sister." A fanged smirk met her lips, and Aria rushed off into the hallway before her. Dwayna followed quickly, and when they met obstacles she blasted them out of the way with ease. Aria found the room she was looking for, searching frantically through the items in the dressers. She found some red and black themed clothing, sliding them on.

Dwayna noticed that Aria had also stolen the shoes of the woman that they had met earlier. Aria was a stealthy person, and seemed to have the power to read the minds of the dead. She had come to the room of the woman who Dwayna had killed to protect her. Aria opened a secret compartment in the closet of the room, pulling out two small daggers. They seemed to fit to her hands, like she had been wielding them for a long time. She turned back towards Dwayna with a grin on her face, and Dwayna returned it before they rushed back out of the room.

More of the Ayx team bombarded them along the way, and this time Dwayna decided to see Aria in action. Crimson hair flew around her as she avoided and dodged every attempt to harm her with ease. She quickly countered with kicks to the face or the shoving of her blades into skull cavities, all of her motions flowing with her fluidly and gracefully. After more bloody bodies were left at their feet, Dwayna smiled at Aria in approval.

Together they fought their way back through the hallways, slicing through their enemies and sometimes setting them on fire. They were a wonderful team already, working around each other like they had been partners for years, their eyes and gems glowing with energy as the death around them powered them all the more. Dwayna was grateful for having found someone that was exactly like her in many ways.

When she thought about the fact that there were eight more of them like her, she didn't feel like so much of a monster anymore.

 

[Plapti]

Vivid descriptions galore!

Your descriptions flow incredibly well and so much story and voice behind the words. It is as is that someone is reading it allowed, as I read it. The presence your writing has is amazing.

 

[Pheonix]

Wow, both of these last chapters were quite awesome! Loved the details and the setting keeps me intrigued to no end. Shall be quite an interesting ride all the way to the end.

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

Chapter Three

The Ayx Corporation was now on high alert. Some of the specimens that they had salvaged from the dragon cave had managed to escape their prisons. Many of their best men and women had died trying to stop them from escaping, but it was all for not. The man staring out from under the brim of his black hat had bloodshot eyes, normal blue irises stained with rage about the news he had just gotten.

A pale finger pushed his sunglasses back onto his face, his yellow-blonde hair coming messily down around it. He straightened the red and white scarf at his neck; covering his mouth and making the beige shirt underneath his black trench coat seem barely visible. He tilted his hat just right so that the large, golden letter A sewn into it showed prominently, identifying his status as the boss of Ayx. Though he wore the scarf, the noises that he made were as audible as they would have been if it were not there at all. His tones were dark and foreboding, seething with the anger in his eyes.

"I want the rest of the facilities to have guards on watch outside the facilities and to have some on the inside as well. I don't want another slaughter fest happening at the hands of these monsters who gain power from the deaths of others." The person meeting with him simply stood and bowed, rushing out quickly and nervously to implement the orders right away. The boss of Ayx leaned back into his leather chair, his black coat heaving with his shoulders as he sighed.

If they managed to survive through the next few facilities, it would be a miracle, he silently mused, and even then it will have been too late. Our project is nearly finished. Though it could not be seen, his eyes danced happily with the evil, insane smirk he had been concealing from everyone for years.

***

The next facility glowed with blue energy this time, and Dwayna's claw was imbued with another power after she had touched another wire. This time the shocks retained their blue color as the power came into her, and she saw an insignia that resonated with the powers of water and ice. She found that by concentrating, she could also switch between the two powers that she had gained through these currents of energy. She wondered if it would always be like this, or if there were only some of them that would give her certain abilities.

Right now she and Aria were hiding in the forest in front of the facility, peering outwards at it warily. There were people standing outside this time, and they didn't look like scientists. The two muscular men held a strange sort of gun in their hands, looking almost alien in quality. The sleek, almost rectangular design with sharpened ends barely covered the glowing blue core of the gun, implicating that was made of plasma. Already, they had attracted more attention than they had wanted, but such was life when they were killers.

Suddenly, there were two very quick swishes and thunking sounds, and the muscled soldiers fell to the ground without another sound. Aria was the first to rush up to them, retrieving her bloodied daggers that she had just embedded exactly in the centers of their foreheads. She had impeccable aim, and Dwayna mused to herself to never try to win any games with Aria that would involve accuracy.

Aria pried the plasma rifles from the men's cold, dead fingers, sliding one of her daggers into a sheath on the belt she stole, handing the other to Dwayna, who took it willingly. They had a feeling that they would be more in for a fight than the last time, so it would be good to be prepared with what they had. As a test of her new powers, Dwayna shot some ice at the door, watching as it slid right through it much like Aria's daggers had those men's skulls. She pried the rest of it apart with her claw, and stepped in cautiously with Aria at her rear.

When they first stepped inside, it was almost too quiet. It didn't seem like any alarms were going off this time. Then the deafening sounds of gunfire sounded near them, barely dodging the sizzling shots of plasma. Dwayna let Aria do most of the shooting, as she was that confident her red-headed partner wouldn't miss. Her stunning dexterity hadn't failed them as of yet, and with all the power they were gaining, she doubted it would fade that easily.

Aria and Dwayna raced throughout the facility, again following the outgoing currents backwards to the source of it all. What they found wasn't what they were expecting to see at all.
This time, the entity in question was male, but this time he actually had clothes, and looked well fed and cared for. It soon became apparent that his whole theme was blue and black - he had on a blue polo shirt with a black stripe around his chest, black pants and shoes, and a blue scarf lay by his side, probably taken off for the energy drain in question. The most striking thing about it was that he had blue hair, and much like Aria's crimson, looked quite natural.

Dwayna unhooked the wire connecting to her brother's neck and waited for him to fade back into consciousness. She glanced momentarily at his gem, wondering what it would look like. This time it was a semi circle of sapphire blue, glowing up at her faintly from lack of energy.

So many questions were running through her head about why he would help these people of his own free will, and she projected that in her emotions, letting her brother know her concern. His eyelashes fluttered open tiredly and he gazed up at her, his eyes glimmering like crystalline sapphires in the sun. He rubbed his eyes slightly and spoke in somewhat high tones for a male, but not overly so that they would be annoying.

"I helped them because they helped me to survive, unlike our mother." His lips pursed together slightly as he looked on at both his sisters warily, and sighed. "But I understand why you think you need to save me. All I know is what these people are plotting is something that may damage them rather than help."

The two nodded in understanding, but Dwayna couldn't help but to feel this sort of sensation that there was something different about him. Something other than his mannerisms, or the fact that he seemed to resent their mother.

Footsteps rushed into the room, and Dwayna pointed her gun at the intruder in the lab coat, ready to shoot, when her brother touched her arm gently. She looked back at him to see an almost pleading look in his eye, and she felt that he didn't want to harm their visitor. She looked back towards the man and saw in his eyes that familiar emotion that the scientist had had in his eyes when he saved her, and she lowered her gun in awe and admiration of the emotion.

She turned back towards her blue themed brother and held out the gun for him to take instead. He looked conflicted for a second, but in the end grasped the gun in his hand. He stood, and Dwayna and Aria took that as their cue to leave with him in tow. Dwayna held out her clawed arm to let Alex follow Aria out of the building, watching warily at what would happen between him and this scientist.

The two men looked at each other, her brother looking back into the lighter blue eyes of the brunette before him. Her brother's eyes faded to match the emotion in the other man's eyes, and she saw sparks of energy dance between them. Whatever this emotion was, it was a powerful thing, enough to compel people to save others or destroy them out of spite. Her brother held out his hand, and the brunette took it to shake in a friendly way, speaking in a sort of a low tone.

"You can call me Eric." A smile came to Eric's lips then, and her brother mirrored it with his own, pondering slightly before responding with his own choice of words.

"I'm Alex, and I'm pleased to meet you. It's dangerous to come with us, Eric, so please take care of yourself and I promise I'll be back for you." Then she saw that emotion spark between them again, much more powerful as the promise was made between them, Eric nodding in understanding. With a wish of good luck and a goodbye, Alex followed Aria out the door, Dwayna following out behind them.

"Take care of him, alright?"

Dwayna turned back towards Eric, seeing the worry blazing in his eyes along with this emotion that she couldn't comprehend. She smiled softly then, almost ironically, before she made her reply and headed out the door.

"Of course I will. He's my brother."

 

[Plapti]

Another awesome chapter Dway. Love how you keep advancing the story with your writing and descriptions. It's awesome. Dwayna's personality has got to be one of the best personalities for a character of her stature. Win.

 

[Secad MS]

Dwayna, this is amazing. I love dragons, and when you combine them with cyborgs, it equals amazing!

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

Chapter Four

Three figures stumbled out of the facility, their clothing plastered with blood, but otherwise appearing clean. The trio headed towards a nearby lake, at which they just sat and looked at the water. Blood dripped from some cuts and wounds on their arms and faces. They may feed off of death, but that didn't make them immortal.

Alex lifted a hand over his arm wounds, and his blue energy shot out, covering the wound. It seemed to heal instantaneously, like the wound was never there to begin with. He did the same with his other cuts, and then walked over towards Dwayna. He motioned a hand over the wound on her face, and she felt a slight tingling sensation from his energy. The feeling of her wound healing itself quickly soon afterwards was strange, but she was grateful for it. Again, he healed the rest of her cuts, and moved over to Aria. She had very few injuries, which wasn't surprising considering her abilities. Again he healed her, and they were all as good as new.

They took turns cleaning their clothes in the lake, looking away respectfully for one another. The cloth had stained with all the blood, but at least it would do for now. Afterwards they sat and gazed at the moon and stars together, all thinking about how long it would take them to find all of their siblings and how they might have to fight some of them. It wasn't going to be an easy journey, now that the facilities were on high alert because of them.

The three soon fell asleep together, their minds drifting off into sleep, but this time they weren't being drained of their energy beforehand. They all had a dream, the same dream together, and they were all aware of each other having this dream. It was strange, but it only proved just how connected they were.

The dream consisted of a being unknown to them, but familiar all the same. Its presence was sinister, gathering the shadows and dark energy around it to power itself. It was being powered by seven different lights flowing into it, and another three of them had gone out. From this vantage point, they could only assume that this was the creature that they were creating through them. This was the threat that they would all have to work against, all ten of them together.

***

"Things are going according to plan, Boss. The Dark One is coming along quite nicely." The smooth tones of a female voice relayed this towards the man sitting in front of her, who was none other than the boss of the Ayx team. His cold blue eyes stared back up at the woman in front of him, almost glaring with the rage he felt towards what else had been going on under his nose. Three of the Soul Dragons had escaped their grasp, and managed to eliminate a good number of their people.

"What of the ones who escaped? What can we do against them? Should we kill sentient creatures in order to give the siblings more power? The ones on our side, I mean." He asked all of this in slightly worried tones, but the anger was still apparent. The female in front of him smirked widely, a few sharp teeth of her own slipping out.

"That would be a good plan, actually. It isn't beneath us to destroy innocent beings for our own personal gain. We can also up the security in the laboratories, making it much tougher to get to our sources of power. Just make sure that if we do start to kill things that I get to tear my way into some of them myself."

The woman's eyes flickered for a moment, turning a feral shade of amber at the mere thought of this happening. The man in front of her simply nodded in approval of the statement, and she bowed to him as she made her way out to give the new orders. She couldn't help but to have a broad smile on her face as she gave the news.

Briefly, she mused that she picked the right side after all. Her mind glimpsed back to the war that had happened between beasts like her and these humans. She could probably slaughter the lot of them, but she knew that she was following them for a purpose.

That purpose just happened to center around her and the Dark One.

***

The trio woke up as the sun above them started to shine through the trees, giving everything a more yellowish hue than usual. This world actually had four suns, so the occurrence of this happening was normal. However, these three had only just started to live outside of their laboratories, and opened their mouths in awe at how much the scenery had changed from last night's dark blue color. They had previously assumed that the light staring at them last night was a moon, but now they assumed that it was just another sun in this strange outside world.

The memory of the dream was fresh on their minds, and a sort of awkward silence passed over them. What were they going to do to stop this? How could they stop this in time for everything to be right in the world? So many questions without answers flitted through their minds, until Dwayna thought of an unfavourable idea.

"We could always split up and take one facility each." The idea of having to go through another one of those alone was daunting to her, but somehow, she felt confidence that she would be okay on her own. She looked at the others reactions, and wasn't exactly startled by what she saw.

Aria had a very sharp, toothy smile plastered over her face. No doubt she was thinking of all the carnage she could create by herself, and perhaps at the thought of having to fight a sibling to get them on their side. Alex was simply neutral about it, but he nodded in agreement all the same, knowing that this would help not only him, but the world around them as well. Seeing that they agreed, Dwayna pulled out two, small devices.

"The scientist slipped these into my pocket, probably knowing that something like this would happen. They're devices that will give you inside knowledge about the facilities around the world and which ones harbour which siblings." They took the devices from her hand and turned them over in their palms, looking at the devices as if admiring the work put into them. Dwayna couldn't help but to smile slightly, feeling herself swell up with something she could only describe as pride.

She wondered why she was feeling this much of the emotion, but decided that it was because she cared about the scientist because he had saved her life. She still didn't understand the strange emotion that Alex seemed to understand clearly, but she also didn't want to bother him for information about it. Whatever it was, it was a strong feeling, and obviously meant for the two people who felt it for each other.

The devices suddenly clasped to their palms, and a light flowed through their veins briefly, startling all of them. The devices had become a part of them, much like how Dwayna's limbs had become a part of her. The information loaded into their brains and they decided for themselves where they would next go. Aria chose one that would be an extra challenge for her, as the sibling inside wasn't exactly on the good side. Alex chose one as neutral as himself, which was also fitting.

They said their goodbyes to each other, and they all lifted off, flying in different directions. Dwayna herself had chosen one that she felt would help her to gain another power within her clawed limb. She smiled again, at the thought of how intelligent her scientist was. She felt that it was intelligence itself that was what made him whole, and that in itself made her suspicious as to if he was human or not.

Then she remembered that he had felt that emotion for her. That seemed like a part of him to, that he was capable of doing so even if he wasn't human. What was this strange emotion that caused such strong connections between people? She couldn't find it within herself, and felt very sad because of it.

The one thing that she wanted more than anything else was just to understand that feeling, and perhaps be able to return it to the scientist who had shown her just how much she meant to him through it.

 

[Plapti]

Love how you set this up Dway. It sets forth a great amount of intrigue for the upcoming chapters.

I patiently wait for the next chapter to come.

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

Chapter Five

Aria slid through the bushes and came around the back of one of the guards. This time, they looked a bit more protected, with helmets covering their heads and other bits of armor on their body. She smirked a toothy smile at this, thinking to herself how foolish it was for them to leave any part of their skin uncovered. In one fluid moment, she grabbed the guards head and slit his throat, allowing him to fall beneath her. The other guard came running, and in another movement she twirled to dodge a gunshot and shoved the other dagger straight through his throat.

She pushed her crimson locks of hair out of her black eyes and looked curiously at the door. With the other lab, Dwayna had just torn through it with her claw. Now that she was on her own, it would be a lot more difficult getting in. That's when she noticed the pad in front of the door. From the looks of it, it seemed to be able to register fingerprints.

Another smirk came to her lips, and she walked back towards one of the dead guards, lifting his hand. She severed the pointer finger from its place and pressed it to the machine. Lights came into it to register what it was, and then the console turned green in color, the door sliding open. She cautiously stepped inside, knowing that someone would probably wonder why the guard was going off duty so soon. She managed to slide her way towards where they were keeping her sibling captive, and heard the alarms go off as the people realized that the guard in question was dead.

She knew she had to move quickly before the people in question found her. She followed the bolts of surprisingly white electricity to their source. She stood in awe for a few moments at the sight before her.

The man sitting before her had on a white robe-like coat on with red trim and a red letter ‘A' emblazoned over his heart. His gem was in the shape of a triangle as well, but this time it was pointing down instead of upwards, like Aria's. His hair was a white-blonde color, and when he opened his eyes, they were also white in color, almost hauntingly so.

"Why are you here?" He spoke in dark, almost gravely tones, seeming very authoritative and almost cocky. Aria managed to keep a sneer off of her face, but the glare was still apparent. Black locked with white, and sparks of both resentment and understanding flowed between them. He sighed softly, gazing back up at Aria with determination.

"These people have given me a home, taken care of me, all only for a little bit of my energy in return. I'm not going to give that up very easily." With those words, he spread his wings, them too white in color, looking almost angelic in quality. Aria retorted by sprouting her demonic quality wings, and it was obvious just how different the two were, just how much of an opposite had happened here.

A force-field surrounded the room, covering everything like plastic. Aria realised that this must be one of his powers, but she was curious to know more. Behind her she saw some other people trying to get in, but she knew it was useless. This conflict was between her and her brother. She spoke to him in threatening tones, projecting the image of the dream into his mind.

"Do you see this image? This is what they are creating with our power. They've brainwashed you into thinking you're working towards a good cause, but I assure you, they lie. They keep you in the dark about this creature, and tell you lies to keep you happy. Is that really worth protecting?"

"I refuse to believe you... This could just be an image created by your imagination for all I know!" He swung at her with a fist, but she dodged flawlessly, twirling back up to land a punch on his face. He keeled backwards a bit, but came lunging back at Aria, knocking her to the ground, he lifted his fist and stopped as another image rushed through his mind.

Horror spread across his face as the memory screamed through his head. Pain... so much pain at having the energy being forcefully taken like it was, and the fact that no one cared about her. No one cared that she was screaming her lungs out, and that she was being drained of every last drop of energy she had.

He opened his eyes to look up at the crimson-haired person below him, and there he saw sorrow behind those dark, black tunnels for eyes. These feelings, this image... it simply couldn't be just in her imagination. To think up something as elaborate as that and it all being false would almost be too sick and insane, even for her.

Rage shot through his body at finally knowing the truth about the company he held near and dear to his heart. The force-field around him shattered and became several small daggers of light, plunging into the bodies of their onlookers. As the blood seeped out of their bodies, he felt more alive than he ever had from just them feeding and taking care of him.

He concentrated, and another beam of light shot out in front of him, forming into a spear-like thing. He gripped it in his hands and spiraled it around like a pro, rushing out of the room with these actions. Aria rushed out behind him, using her fluid movements to finish off anyone else that her brother had missed.

She pondered for a second, before another wave of them came on to try and stop them/. She concentrated on the daggers in her hands, and suddenly they were cloaked in her black energy. After it dissipated, they looked as good as new, and had a sparkling black gem on each of their hilts. She swung her new blades at the next enemy, and watched the blades absorb the blood on them almost instantaneously. A wide grin came onto her face, and she continued on behind her brother, who was slicing and dicing people as they rushed towards him.

Soon enough, they had cleaned the place out and were out the front door of the facility. They ran into the forest together and found an empty space to take a rest. The angel put up another force-field around the area, just in case, and sat down, some of his bangs falling over his eyes as he closed them. He hung his head in shame of everything that he had done without the knowledge that he had now about how cruel they could be just to get power.

He felt something soft and wet touch his forehead, and he opened his eyes to see Aria pull away, a smile on her face. She had kissed his forehead, as if knowing how insecure he was feeling... and then he remembered just who he was dealing with. This was his sister, the one who had been tortured until she was saved by another of his siblings, and she forgave him. She forgave him for everything he had done to oppose her, and he appreciated her a lot more for that. She held out her hand to him, and spoke in more calm tones this time.

"I'm Aria. The one who freed me is Dwayna, and the one with the blue theme is Alex. Who might you be?" She smiled warmly, and he pondered for a few moments, speaking his mind about what had happened during his stay at the laboratory.

"Well, they called me an angel a lot because of my appearance, but I don't want a name that has anything to do with that. I want to forget them now and the lies that they told me..." He looked towards her, knowing of her ability to read the minds of the dead, searching through her record of the names of the people who had died at her hands. "I think I like the name Ian. After that one you stabbed in the jaw to get into my room."

Aria chuckled softly at this and nodded in acknowledgement. Ian was going to be an interesting sibling to travel with for a while, that was for sure. They were complete opposites in a lot of ways, but now that he knew the truth about Ayx, perhaps they would have more in common than she thought.

The device stuck to her hand suddenly flashed with light, and another one spawned and attached itself to Ian's hand. Aria raised her eyebrows at this, smirking lightly at the fact that Dwayna's scientist had created such an intelligent device. Together, they decided on another facility to go, and set off into the horizon, black and white twirling around each other in the sky. Aria projected a message to Dwayna and Alex, a smile plastered on her face.

Four siblings down, six more to go.

 

[Secad MS]

Ian sounds pretty sweet, Dway. Reading the minds of dead people...I smell an awesome ghost whisperer-type character!

Dwayna, I don't know how to describe the mental picture of this chapter. It is just too awesome!

 

[Plapti]

Interesting chapter Dway. I was not expecting this twist you threw in and I really enjoyed it.

The descriptions in this chapter are extremely vivid and I adore them.

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

Dear Readers,

It is my deepest regret to inform you that I will be putting Beginning of the End on permanent hiatus. I'm not very inspired to write this story anymore, so I feel it's only right to put it to rest right now. There probably won't be another time where I randomly come up with a chapter for this story. It's done, finished, caput.

Thank you very much for all of your support in this venture, as long as it did last. I'm not sure if I'll be writing anything new anytime soon, but you cna keep a watchful eye of you really want to.

As a consolation and appreciation of your support, I give you the planned epilogue.

Enjoy.

~ Dwayna

---

Epilogue

Everything that they had done towards their venture flashed before their eyes, becoming dim and useless with this moment. The ones who were neutral picked up the shattered pieces and put them into a container, sealing it for good with one of the scientists inventions.

They flew together, two of them lifting the violet-eyed scientist to come with them. They flew over treetops, the crimson coloured sky dancing light upon their bodies as they flew towards their goal.

They landed, and to all of them except the scientist, this place was exceedingly familiar. They stepped into the cave, delving into the darkness in front of them, only knowing that this was right. This should be her resting place.

They came to the part of the cave with the old dragon bones, shards of blue glass scattered all over the room. Some of the more emotional ones bursted into tears, and the neutral ones went collecting again, leaving both containers in the center where the remains of a nest and parts of eggshells lay.

They all filed out, one by one, leaving the scientist alone with the containers. He pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, both seeming to have magical qualities. As he scribbled down the note, his purple glasses faded to a sorrowful blue, though no tears fell from his eyes. he then pulled out a glittering, green rose and placed both items by the jar with the green fragments in it, and left.

As soon as he found his way home, the scientist sat down in a chair, reaching for his back to find something. A soft clicking noise came from the place he pressed with his fingers, and as a last movement, he pulled the glasses from his face, dropping them to the ground. His violet eyes slowly faded to a lifeless grey, and they closed for the last time. He was dead.

As the years passed, the rose still lived on, and the note was always scrawled in his neat script. Nether faded from life, and to any who stepped in, they would see the message as clear as the day that it was written.

It read as follows.

Dwayna,

I'll be joining you soon.

I love you.

Edward

 

[Secad MS]

Aww...that's really sad to hear, Dway. At least your epilogue is amazing. They died in the end, didn't they?

At least that's what I interpret it to be.

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

Dwayna was murdered and exploded into shards just like her mother. Edward (the scientist) committed a sort of robotic suicide because he felt too much pain with Dwayna's death. every one else is alive. the Green rose is a metaphor for Edward's undying love for Dwayna. They live happily ever after in the afterlife.

Or better yet, sure. Rocks fall, everyone dies. The end.