As the blistering heat began to scorch Dagon's skin, he held out his only hand and focused all his gathered energy into the molten earth, which suddenly began to turn a silvery color as the ground became mercury. The moment this happened, Keagor's scales became charcoal black and a lava red glow came from within his body as the heat went up and up and the earth trembled under the might of the spell.
But the ground was no longer earth. As the Mercury burned, it became mercury oxide, the toxic mineral becoming airborne. But dragons were immune to this poison, as was Dagon. The only person who was not immune to it, was Nargash.
As Dagon hunched forward, feeling light headed and weak, Gena exploded over them with a roar, crashing into Keagor and slamming the dragon to the earth.
Gena pushed down with all her might, her scales shimmering and her muscles shifting in the heat as she pressed Keagor's head into the molten earth and mercury.
Nargash reached for his sword to draw it and bring it down on Gena's throat, but he suddenly froze. His eyes went wide and he clasped his own throat. He began coughing as though he were choking on something, and then his body began to convulse uncontrollably and he fell to the side.
Gena bared her teeth and rose her talons into the air, prepared to skewer Nargash with them.
"Gena!!" Dagon roared.
She stopped, turning to face Dagon.
"Stop!" He spoke, "If we kill him like this, we will only be just like him. Don't kill unless we absolutely have to."
"Do you have any idea what he's done, Dagon?!" Gena roared in return, her fangs bared. "He has killed countless dragons and Kin! And if we let him go, he will only come after us again!"
"Gena." Dagon said, his eyes focused. "The poison is already killing him. Let him go. It is p to Keagor if he lives or dies. Let them go, I imagine they will go to their kingdom in order to heal him. That will give us time to get away and do what we need to. He won't be a problem, and if he is, then next time we will kill him."
Gena growled, looking down at the convulsing man below her. "Fine." She snorted. She clasped Keagor's horn in her talons and wrenching him to his feet, throwing him down the mountain side. The dragon spiraled down for a time, but managed to regain his balance before rising into the air. He looked over at the three watching below, as if he were thinking of attacking, but then he simply turned and flew away into the dark clouds.
"Why did we let him go?" Sephtis asked. "If you didn't want to kill him, we could've at least interrogated him."
"Because, unless he gets proper treatment he will die either way." Dagon spoke. "And trust me, I wanted to kill him. I really wanted to. But I don't want to lose myself in bloodshed and become corrupted."
"You will have to kill at some point!" Gena growled. "You can't just let your enemies walk away, Dagon. Soon, you will be forced to make a choice- to kill, or to die. What will you do then?"
Dagon stared calmly at Gena, the glow of molten flames below them casting eerie shadows across Dagon's features.
"I will kill."
— — —
Keagor forced his way through the vicious winds, climbing higher and higher until he was above the clouds, the moon illuminating his scales. His master was still convulsing upon his back.
*What happened? Why is Nargash convulsing? What the hell caused this?Everything was going fine, what did they do?* Keagor could not understand what had happened.
What he didn't know, was that when Mercury is heated up, it becomes airborne, turning to mercury oxide, an extremely toxic gas.
*I have to get him back to Serrakon, that is the only way to possibly save him. The Phoenix magic does not appear to be working..*
A loud boom echoed across the clouds. And then a faint bluish glow could be seen beneath, growing ever brighter and brighter.
Keagor bared his teeth and growled. *Not again…*
The crimson dragon attempted to change his angle in the air, but he was nowhere near fast enough. A blur of silver and arcing lightning exploded through the clouds, cold talons plunging through Keagor's jaws, blood flying through the air. Keagor's body was wrenched upwards, pulled higher into the air as the silver dragon lifted him.
Then, the figure atop the silver dragon's back unlatched themselves and dropped, landing atop Keagor's back, clasping onto one of the dragon's spines.
The rider pulled out a knife, burrowing it into Keagor's back to hold themself in place before the pulled their spear over their shoulder, then plunged it straight through Nargash's heart.
Keagor felt like his body had been shattered apart at that instant, as though his scales were being torn and ripped away from his flesh one by one.
The silver dragon slowed down, the moon's light engulfing them now. They were high above the clouds and Mt Fang far below. The silver Dragon's rider clambered up Keagor's spine and hopped back onto their dragon, hooking themself to the saddle.
Nargash's body had gone completely limp, dangling by the saddle latch.
The silver dragon lifted Keagor up, then, grabbing his horn, it made a quick motion, snapping Keagor's neck to the side.
And then the crimson dragon fell with its rider, plunging down through the clouds, disappearing into the storm below.
*We had to do it ourselves.* the dragon hummed irritably. It was female.
*Yes. That boy is weaker than I had thought, he doesn't have the heart to be a killer. He can't be the dragon king.* the rider said. The rider too was a girl.
*What do you propose we do then?*
*We will test him a bit more. We haven't seen all he has to show us. But if he proves to not meet expectations..*
*then?*
*We kill him and his dragon.*