Thorn's Last Stand
A Tale of Two Parents
The white dragon swooped down to the cave etched into the mountain. As he landed on the ledge, his body disappeared, replaced by the figure of a young man with scaly white wings. He approached the pedestal in the center of the cave, opening the satchel hanging from his shoulder and taking out an onyx egg.
A roar ripped through the air. The shifter turned around to see a black dragon descending upon the cave. He placed the egg back in his satchel and tucked the satchel behind the pedestal.
The black dragon turned into a young woman. She glared at the shifter and charged him.
“Where is he, Thorn?” she snarled. “Where is our son?”
“Out of your reach, Belladonna,” Thorn replied.
Belladonna hissed, exposing her fangs.
“How could you?” she said as her nails elongated into claws. “He is ours to raise, not theirs!”
“It is his destiny. He will save the world.”
“I don’t care about the world! I want my son!”
Belladonna swiped at Thorn, who dodged her strike with ease. She took another swipe at him. Again, Thorn dodged her claws.
“Please, my love, listen to reason,” Thorn said.
“Do not call me that! You have no right to call me that anymore.”
She managed to land a blow to Thorn’s chest, and he hissed in pain as his flesh smoldered.
“I am not the one who took the path of Darkness—”
“If the Teachers of Light did not want my only child, then I wouldn’t have needed to!”
Belladonna went to strike him again, but Thorn caught her arm and twisted it behind her. He wrapped his arm around her throat, stopping short of choking her.
“You lost that battle a long time ago. Please, come with me so that the Teachers may cleanse you.”
Belladonna ignored his pleas. When Thorn turned her, he had faced her toward the pedestal. Peeking out from behind it was the strap of Thorn’s satchel.
Without hesitation, Belladonna bit the arm wrapped around her throat, burying her fangs deep into the flesh. Thorn cried out and released Belladonna, who sprinted for the satchel.
Giving no mind to the venom spreading through his body, Thorn gave pursuit. He took wing and tackled her. Belladonna struggled beneath him. Thorn pinned her down, but seeing the determination in her dark eyes, he knew what he had to do.
Bearing his fangs, Thorn ripped into Belladonna’s throat. He looked away as his beloved took her last gurgling breath.
His eyesight blurred, though from tears or the venom, Thorn could not tell. His veins had grown black, and his temperature was rising. His body shook as he reached for the satchel.
Thorn pulled out the egg.
“Good luck, my son,” he whispered. “May you save us all.”
With the last of his strength, Thorn lifted the egg onto the pedestal. A bright light flashed, and the egg disappeared.
His task complete, Thorn took his last shuddering breath and collapsed beside his mate.
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Note: This story is a submission to the #highfantasychallenge brought to us by Matthew Fromm. For more information and to submit your own story, follow the link below.
About the Creator
Stephanie Hoogstad
With a BA in English and MSc in Creative Writing, writing is my life. I have edited and ghost written for years with some published stories and poems of my own.
Learn more about me: thewritersscrapbin.com
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Comments (7)
This reminds me of Adonide Bones' "Sing Me Red Lullabies." Ah, such a tragic story. I like how You gave Belladonna venom. In dragonology it's often stated that dragons prefer using venom to fire as it's less costly in resources and even potentially less harmful to themselves. Breathing fire does not mean fire proof. Sadly I think Thorn is just choosing his best interests and not even weighing the ethics or morality of his decisions. There is a clear difference between good and evil and that often gets muddied by people's delusions. As the phrase goes "People will interpret meanings to their own demise." Besides, the teachers are light are only described as teachers. They are not parents. A child needs to be raised by parents and taught. Thorn makes it sound like they'd never be able to see their son. Plus, the egg hasn't hatched. How do they know if it's a boy unless they saw through the eggshell in a light? Either these dragons are psychic or they kept that egg at a certain temperature to make sure it developed into a male. Then again, that's just reptile biology and not necessarily dragon biology. Personally, I think Belladonna would've been fine if their only child was taught by the light teachers as long as she was present in her child's life. Once You become a parent Your life is no longer about You. It's about Your kids, and the future You want them to have. Now, if Thorn was sending their unborn child off to a boarding school without Belladonna's permission, let alone her input, then it makes sense for all hell to break lose. I'm surprised she didn't b*th slap the sh*t out of him. Plus, Thorn already had their child on the pedestal. He could've complete that task so quickly in my opinion with killing Belladonna unless the egg would only transport at a specific time. He got to the cave before her, so by that logic he should at least be as fast as her. He could've ringed around the rosy till he needed their baby to go bye-bye. If he's so wise with his teachings why did he nit think that far ahead? I'm gonna assume that he's too prideful to admit when he's wrong, even to himself.
A brilliantly devised tragedy! Well done!
Stephanie, this was intense and expertly written! I love your attention to detail and the overall feel of the story!! You've left me wanting more!! Do you plan to add on to this story at all?
😍 I love this!! Dragon stories are my favorites and this one is really interesting!! Good luck in the challenge ☺️😁
Added into the challenge! great submission.
Read mine as well. https://vocal.media/poets/a-shy-guy-s-thoughts
Madam, I must admit that your draft is absolutely interesting. Your creation is an absolute masterpiece, of exceptional nature in every aspect, featuring captivating content that is guaranteed to captivate the viewer.