The Fall of Eden

Chapter Four- Obliteration

    Micah heard a mumble next to her, she thought it sounded like Oli but she couldn't make it out, she was far too entranced with the bird that had just landed in front of her. A dragon, a real dragon! Her mind was squealing and for a fleeting moment she had forgotten that they were in extreme danger. Her silver optics took in every detail of its large golden body, it looked soft and metallic at the same time like fury bars of gold. The wings stretched in front of her, fluttering as the large creature settled into its landing zone. They were large and pearlescent, a translucent painting of white film teaming with rainbows that danced in the now gleaming sun. The wind blew her whirling braid behind her, sucking the air from her lungs as its bright golden eyes settled on her face. Errivian stood on one of the large golden spines on its back, seemingly comfortable as he glared at the two before him.

"I see you thought you could outrun me, surely now you will go peacefully since you've not got much of a choice at this point. Only making things harder on yourself Miss Culdan " Errivian let out cackle, the dragon beneath him testing the air with its snake like tongue, the motion still looked elegant though it should have been alarming.

"She's not going anywhere with you sunflower, but it's sweet of you to ask. Now if you'll kindly move we will be on our way" Olivandier had pushed in front of her, breaking her gaze on the dragon before her. She shook her head, finally allowing the gravity of the situation set in. Her eyes fell on Errivian as he slid down the golden spine of the dragon and landed on his feet. a bright orb of light sitting furiously on his fingertips. His eyes locked on Olivandier as he slowly pushed toward them.

"Oh I see you got a tick running through the forest, hold tight I'll pull it off." Errivian spat as he lunged then at Oli, the orb of light shooting from his hand straight at her best friend. Micah panicked, throwing herself in front of him just in time for the orb to bounce off of her and land on the wet ground, bursting into flames like a bomb in front of them. Olivandier's eyes went wide and curious, eyeing Micah with growing interest. He looked almost proud of her weak stature. Impressed even. He stepped forward now, his fingers gleaming green as vines shot out from the ground, whirling like a large snake straight at Errivian. Errivian leaped from where he was standing, grabbing one of the thick vines, light shot into the vine killing it before their eyes. Oli lifted his hand as another vine whipped towards Errivian this time catching his legs and tugging him down to the ground as another captured one of his arms. Errivian let out a shriek, digging his free hand into another vine as it whirled toward him. Oli bent over and plucked fresh blades of grass from ground, blowing a green mist on them. They lifted into the air, gleaming like sharpened  daggers as he threw his hand forward. Micah heard Errivian scream as the grass blades reached him and stopped right in front of his face. One of them lightly touching his neck, causing a golden liquid to spill like blood from his porcelain skin. 

    The dragon that had been rather uninterested in the fight before this, glared in Oli's direction letting out a loud snarl, smoke billowing from its large nostrils. The motion caused a chill to shoot up Micah's spine as she remembered what he had said about her flying it out of here. He had to be insane. Maybe if Errivian couldn't hurt her it couldn't either. Errivian laughed, a deep throaty laugh that Micah was sure had come from the depths of hell. 

"You honestly think you can take on a Dragon you stupid tree hugger. You know they aren't fond of wood elves." he spat, still pinned down by the long sharp blades in front of him. Micah glanced at Oli, he seemed pale, as if he knew these words were correct. "I've grown rather bored of this now. I'm sure the council won't mind if I take care of the problem he-" Errivian wasn't able to finish, Micah watched as Oli's blades shot forward, tearing right through Errivian's body, she winced as golden liquid oozed from his neck she could hear the remainder of his words gargle in his mouth as she watched the light drain from his eyes. She looked up as the dragon lifted into the air its wings flapping violently in front of them, a hissing sound whirling in their ears. She was about to tell Oli to run as he let out a blood curdling scream. She spun fast on her heel to see him on the ground holding his arm as it burned a fiery red.

"Oli!" She screamed, rushing to his side, she reached out for his arm but he pushed her away.

"Run you i***t, it will kill us both!" with that realization Micah looked up at him knowing he was right but she couldn't leave him, not again. He had risked his life enough times for her. It was her turn. She stood quickly,  her hand outstretched in front of her.

 "ST-STOP!" She screamed, her whole body shaking with uncertainty. The massive dragon pushed off the ground, flying high into the sky and circling around to come back for the kill. A long mourning screech filled the silence as it barreled toward them at unbelievable speed. Micah closed her eyes tight, embracing for impact as the air in her lungs disappeared once again. This was it, she had spent years hiding in a forest just to die here trying to escape. At least if nothing else she was with Oli, sure maybe he was lying to her, but at least they were together in the end. She felt a gentle rush of air overcome her and she smiled, embracing the sweet warmth of death. 

"Micah" The elegant sound of Olivandier's voice caressed her ears, it was so warm and dark. She must be in heaven she thought, visions of her life filled the darkness surrounding her in a blur, landing on the night she had lost her parents. The night she had thought she lost Oli. His warm whispery tone in her ear, she had heard the words before many, many times warning her to keep the box he had gifted her safe, the sentence followed by the words that had made her chest tighten in astonishment for a long, long time. I love you. She could feel the warmth fading, the memories dissipating like smoke 

"I love you too, Oli" she muttered, thinking it was the last words she would ever muster enough strength for. However she was wrong, a fact she realized as her brain fog lifted and sunlight punctured her eyelids. Olivandier was crouched over her, looking like he'd seen a ghost. His face pale white, twisted in pain. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks as she realized that they were very much alive and he had just overheard everything she had said. Dragon, she shook herself from her thoughts, lifting herself off the ground. Oli grabbed her arm the steady her as she stumbled forward. 

"Easy" he said soothingly "careful I think you're hurt" he tore a leaf from his handmade garments and patted her forehead. She looked as he pulled it away, it was soaked with golden liquid. "remarkable" he enthused "you don't have a mark on you this is Dragon blood" He watched as Micah's eyes darted around in confusion searching for the large dragon that had almost pulverized them both.  Micah gasped, in front of them lay a set of golden remains, the perfect skeleton deteriorating quickly in front of them. It was as if the wings and fur had been vaporized by an acidic explosion, the remainder melting into the earth like molten lava. 

"W-what happened? How? We were going to die, how did you kill it so fast?" Micah asked earning a look of astonishment from Olivandier. He laughed, shaking his head 

"I was going to ask you the same question. I didn't do this Micah.... You did" he gestured to the pile of bones in front of them surrounded by molten gold. "I thought we were goners for sure, I watched it attack you and it just... exploded and you went down." He bent down and picked up a perfect golden claw from the rubble, turning it over in his hand before it melted in front of his eyes. "I've never seen anything like this in my life. I've never even heard of someone killing a dragon, I didn't even know it was possible, it's rather curious" Micah blinked, not able to find the words to express her inner thoughts. She was still trying to wrap her head around the existence of Dragons, now she had to deal with the fact that she had just murdered one.

"Argh!" Oli clenched his fist, grabbing his left arm still burning with a red aura. There was a mark there, a symbol that looked like a ball of fire. Micah took his arm gently and put her cool hand on top of the mark. 

"Oli what happened? this is deep" He winced at her cool skin, shrugging away from her. 

"I'll explain later, we have to get out of here or its going to keep hurting." He fumbled on the ground for a moment until he found a leaf. then using the golden liquid blood  from the dragon he wrote something on it and blew it into the wind. It zipped right past Micah's head and off into the sky like a balloon filled with helium, her eyes tracing it as far as she could. When it disappeared she eyed him confused.

"What in the heck was that? a postcard?" She heard Oli chuckle a little at her words as he winced again from the throbbing pain in his arm that grew worse with each passing moment.

"Something like that, just a little trick I picked up in training" Before Micah could question him he watched a portal form in front of them shimmering furiously. " Come on lets go" He grabbed her hand then, making her cheeks flush as he pulled her through the golden pool. Micah gasped as her eyes met a giant Silver and green room, that she could only imagine was a throne room. Large silver columns rose on either side of them, decorated loosely with emerald crests. Intricate leaves winding up their full length. Silver curtains lined most of the rooms walls all but a stage at the front that adorned a Large silver throne that seemed to grow like a tree out of the ground. Its swirling branches forming a seat and arm rests on either side. 

    A man sat in the throne, an emerald encrusted crown rested on his dark menacing locks, he looked much like Olivandier and Tirran, Micah assumed he was the king. Beside him stood two unmoving guards, Tirran stood off to his left and Finithe to his right. Finithe's eyes were sparkling with curiosity and eagerness. His gaze fell on Micah and he started to step forward but the king lifted his arm to cease his actions. 

"Father" Oli finally found his voice beside her, he still had a loose grip on her hand which made Micah's cheek fill with heat again. She had longed for his touch so much in recent years that any ounce he would allow her was pleasurable to the highest extent. She wished he would never let go. "We must speak at once" The king eyed him expectantly and Micah watched as Olivandier looked at her in hesitation "In private" he insisted earning a firm nod. Micah felt his hand drop hers and it felt as though the hole he was patching inside of her ripped right back open. His warmth was the only thing keeping her from going mad. After all so many things had happened in just the last few hours that had her completely confused. She had so many unanswered questions. She felt as if the life she was living was not her own. She watched as Oli and the King disappeared through a door on the left side of the room, Tirran following behind them.

    Suddenly she could feel herself fill with anger, it radiated through her whole body, nearly rocking her small frame. Everyone she had once loved had lied to her. Her mom, her dad, Oli.... they were all liars. Even her grandmother. No one told her what she was. They never told her she would one day face danger. They never told her about beings that could harness sunlight and use the ground as a weapon. They never told her of dragons, warlocks, naturists, pixies or anything else that existed in this cruel world. They'd left her completely in the dark, defenseless. Micah could feel the pain growing in her chest as she digested the gravity of her current situation. Her skin that had just been begging for Oli's touch was now crawling with hate, she felt as if she might burst at any moment.

"Maybe we should get you cleaned up dear" A gentle voice shook her of her thoughts and Micah looked up, locking eyes with Finithe who was now a few feet from her, the look in his gaze was knowing. She didn't have the energy to say anything she just looked at him, expression blank and unmoving. He looped his arm with hers as he had before and tugged her along as he turned her around. The portal was now gone, and in its place stood a large Oak door with scrolling silver vines all over it. He pushed the door open with his pale hand, revealing a large hallway with many smaller oak doors just like that one. He pulled her lightly behind him to one of the first they came to. Two women appeared in the doorway both seeming rather bothered by her ghastly appearance. "Micah, this is Hadley and Georgina, they will help you out of these clothes and help you get cleaned up. I am, however, a gentleman so you can find me in garden when your are finished." With that he spun on his heel and disappeared down the long hallway.

    The two women hurried her inside what looked like a shower room and sat her down in a wooden chair, both of them instructed her to stay there as they readied the water. Micah watched them move behind a silver curtain and she took a deep breath. One she had been avoiding for a while because she knew it would push through her causing her anger to pour out of her like rapids. Instead she felt nothing, just the numbing feeling of betrayal as rivers beat their way down the landscape of her facial features.