Chereads / Ghost in the Skies / Chapter 8 - Chapter 8: The Return of the Comet

Chapter 8 - Chapter 8: The Return of the Comet

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The Vikings had begun their retreat.

Haldrek led them in silence, his mind a storm of thoughts. The Phantom had beaten them. Not through brute force, but through something far worse. Strategy. Patience. Control.

He clenched his fists, frustration curling in his gut.

Jarl Haldrek had never turned away from a hunt in his life. But now, he had no choice. It left him with nothing—no weapons, no ships, no path forward. The only thing left was to survive.

But then the sky screamed.

A roar split the air, vast and deafening. It wasn't the Phantom's eerie whistle. This was something different. Something greater.

The air itself seemed to shudder under the force of the sound. The Vikings staggered, some falling to the snow. Weapons were drawn—instinct, though they all knew they had no hope against whatever had made that sound.

Haldrek turned sharply, eyes searching the sky.

The storm clouds swirled above the Spine, thick and endless, but through the gaps in the howling winds, something moved.

A shadow.

No—a comet.

The Return of an Old Foe

The red streak, the one the villagers claimed to see that very night everything changed.

Valstrax had returned.

Haldrek barely had time to process the sight before the beast tore through the clouds like a falling star, its silver-red form streaking through the sky in a blinding arc.

The Vikings shouted, scrambling back toward the cliffs, some running, some too paralyzed to move.

Haldrek had heard of the Valstrax only in whispers—spoken of in the same fearful tones as the Phantom itself. A dragon of impossible speed, a force of nature, a living comet.

And now, it was here.

But it did not come for them.

It came for the Phantom.

The Phantom's Reaction

On the ridge where it had watched the Vikings, the great white dragon lifted his head. His blind eyes shimmered faintly, his body going rigid. The wind shifted. The air trembled.

He had heard it too.

For the first time since the hunt began, head tilted—not in curiosity, not in warning.

But in recognition.

And then the Valstrax dived.

The First Strike

The force of its descent was terrifying.

The air itself split apart as the Valstrax accelerated, its bladed wings slicing through the sky, leaving a fiery red trail in its wake.

Then—impact.

It struck the Phantom with thunderous force.

The two dragons crashed into the cliffs, sending snow, ice, and stone exploding outward. The sheer force shook the entire ridge, sending avalanches cascading down into the valley below.

The Vikings barely had time to react before the wind howled again, stronger than before.

Haldrek shielded his eyes as the storm raged around them, the two titans locked in combat.

For the first time, the Phantom was on the defensive.

A Battle Unlike Any Other

The Phantom twisted, his massive form moving with practiced precision. He had fought this enemy before. He knew it's tactics, its weaknesses.

But the Valstrax was faster.

It tore through the air, striking with bladed wings that cut like steel. Each attack came at blinding speed, forcing the Phantom to weave, dodge, survive.

The battle was inhuman.

One moved like a falling star, striking with force beyond comprehension.

The other moved like the wind itself, predicting each strike, escaping with impossible grace.

The Vikings could not look away.

This was no mere fight between beasts.

This was a grudge.

A war between two legends.

And they were caught in the middle.

The Vikings' Peril

The winds from the battle tore across the cliffs.

One Viking was thrown from his feet, tumbling toward the abyss—only for another to grab him at the last second.

Haldrek shouted orders, trying to keep his men together, but their voices were drowned out by the storm of battle.

And then—

The Valstrax struck the ice.

The entire frozen lake shattered.

They barely had time to react before the ice collapsed beneath them.

Men screamed as the lake swallowed them, the freezing waters dragging them down. Some grabbed at the broken edges, others disappeared beneath the surface.

Haldrek lunged forward, grabbing Orrek just as the young warrior slipped toward the water's edge.

The Jarl refused to die here.

But as he pulled Orrek back to safety, his eyes turned to the battle once more.

The Phantom had retreated to the cliffs, perching upon a jagged peak. He was breathing heavily, his powerful form tense.

The Valstrax circled above, its crimson thrusters burning against the night sky.

The fight was not over.

It had barely begun.

A Hunter's Mind

For the first time since the hunt had begun, Haldrek saw something new in the Phantom's stance.

He was no longer in control.

The Phantom had spent years perfecting his dominance over these lands. He had hunted without being seen. He had mastered the wind, the snow, the silence.

But the Valstrax was different.

Valstrax was like him.

It was not prey.

It was a hunter.

And it wanted revenge.

The Phantom's Counterattack

The wind shifted.

The Phantom's blind eyes narrowed.

He turned his head slightly, listening, calculating.

Then, as the Valstrax dived once more—

He moved.

Not away.

Not to flee.

But into the attack.

The Phantom twisted his massive frame, the snow around him swirling in a perfect, calculated storm.

And at the last moment—

He struck.

Impact

The two titans collided again.

But this time, it was different.

The Phantom had learned.

He used the Valstrax's speed against it, tilting his body, making it miss by mere inches—just enough to send it spiraling off course.

The Valstrax crashed into the cliffs below.

Snow and ice rained down.

The Vikings scrambled for cover.

The Phantom did not waste the moment.

He dove.

The Final Blow?

The Phantom hit the Valstrax mid-recovery, pinning it against the broken ice.

The Vikings stared in stunned silence.

For a moment, it seemed as if the fight was over.

That the Phantom had won.

But then—

The Valstrax roared.

And from its body, an explosion of crimson light erupted.

A Dragon's Wrath

The force was immense.

The Phantom was thrown backward, skidding across the shattered ice, claws scraping against the frozen ground.

The Valstrax rose.

Its wings flared, five of it's usual six engines burning with renewed fury as it remembered that night when this dragon manged to escape him and also tore off one of his thrusters.

It was not finished.

And neither was the Phantom.

Haldrek could hardly breathe.

The Vikings could hardly move.

The two titans faced each other once more.

And the battle would rage until one of them fell.

The Vikings' Choice

Haldrek gritted his teeth.

This was no longer their fight.

If they stayed here, they would die.

"Move!" he shouted. "We go—now!"

The warriors hesitated only a moment longer before turning away from the battle.

One by one, they retreated into the shadows of the Spine.

The last thing Haldrek saw, before the cliffs swallowed them—

Was the Phantom of the Skies and the Valstrax, locked in battle.

Neither willing to yield.

Neither willing to break.

For in the end—

There could be only one.

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End of Chapter 8