Draimon: Fracture: Erasend- Book 1: Deascension

Chapter 8: The Titan Forest

I spread my wings, jumped off and immediately plummeted, my wings refusing to hold me in the air. My jaw smushed against the ground, reforming itself when I stood.

"Thorn-wing hold," I heard Baragon roar, with Thorn-wing turning his head, flying back full of grace, and landing in front of me.

"Have your parents not taught you how to fly yet? Where are they?" The Wyvern asked.

Baragon's expression changed, and his head began to shake from side to side. I saw Thorn-wing look at Baragon and his face became lighter, "I am sorry for what happened to them." I could not control my eyes as tears of sap swelled within my eyes and fell, with my vision blurring, shaking, I said.

"She was going to show me all of us after our first battle."

"how old are you?"

"She was born shortly before the last battle started," Baragon replied.

"Should we even take her? The signatures of many vanished in an instant."

"I know what that means," Baragon said.

"But the little one," Thorn-wings said, tipping his head down slightly towards me.

"I may be young, but I am not a fool; they are all dead are they not?"

"We are not saying you are, but for something to kill so many that fast. That none even sensed their distress," Thorn-wing said back to us.

"It could be them," Baragon said.

"No, they were powerful but not this powerful; it must be the other them."

"I have only heard rumours, to think they still exist..." Baragon replied.

"Who are they? Stop repeating yourselves; we need to go," I interrupted.

"We will explain as we travel; I still need to teach you to fly," Thorn-wing said, looking at Baragon.

"Well, I can not; besides, if you show her, she will be able to fight at her full potential. I am not asking, so I do not owe you a favour."

"Why are you training her?" Thorn-wing asked, advancing on Baragon, "you can not fly, so I need to teach her; you use bark and spore magic. She uses vine and solar." I could feel Baragon's core shaking with anger, "You are a Berserker. Would one of the first three not let her reach her full potential faster. Revoke her after this battle."

Baragon snapped. "FOR ONE OF THOSE THREE YOU DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT US! I took a vow to train her when her mother passed, and you should know I would rather die than break that vow." Baragon took a moment to breathe, lowering his large head, "I can control roots which are similar to vines; why I plan to teach her bark magic, they need us so teach her and let us go."

"My apologies," Thorn-wing turned to me and held his long wings up, "flap them up and down, making sure the membrane is flat; jumping helps." I did so, and I was flying above the ground on my first try.

"I will give a boost," Thorn-wing said.

"What," before I could think, the tail of Thorn-wing curled around mine and whipped me forward, sending me hurtling through the air. I was able to steady myself, with the two of them quick to catch up.

"Keep your wings out to glide and flap to maintain speed," Baragon said to me.

"Perhaps you are right to train her," Thron-wing replied.

"So what is this thing, and why are you two feeling that you are going to die?" I asked.

"During the wars, we fought smooth-skins, but there was another race that wanted us dead.

"Core-torn," Baragon replied, "or the Devourers, both names work.

"What are they?" I asked.

"They are our antithesis in every way," Thorn-wing said. "They are pale, solitary, mindless Monsters that can only grow by absorbing life."

"And they were us once," Baragon said.

"Indeed," Thorn-wing replied, "and I believe that this one is Wyrm-torn. A Core-torn that has developed some manner of intelligence."

"I am guessing Core-torn eat the cores of Dragons which turn them into Core-torn."

"Clever, this one is," Thorn-wing said, pleased.

"Smooth-skins, Devourers and now the Elemontols, have we ever been at peace?" I asked.

"there was a time long ago. Though for a race always at war, we have not been able to grow as a race."

We kept travelling until I saw it. A vast stretch of brown crept into sight. As we got closer, I saw a gathering of many before the entrance. The trees were even larger; gazing upwards, I could not see the top, and they were wider than the largest Dragons near us. The branches that covered them were all uniform, with one part resembling a giant blade. Looking as hard as I could, I saw jaws within the branches and the gems along them felt fake. My body started to shake.

"They must have been killed in that forest; stay close. Something about those trees seems off to me," Baragon said.

"Standing will not kill the Devourer we need to advance. Follow!" I heard Thorn-wing roar. "We have to enter this imitation forest, find it ourselves and destroy it." With that, Thorn-wing flew through the forest, followed by an army, with me following Baragon by my side and bark Dragons trailing behind us.

"Drydra, fly ahead; I need to talk to the others."

"Right," I said, soaring off and going deeper into the forest, the trees so far apart I could fly straight. I saw Baragon charging underneath, so I swooped down.

"Land on my back," I did just that.

"What were you saying to them?" I asked.

"I and the other bark Dragons all sense that this is one giant trap, surrounded by these things. I know that they are not real trees."

"How is that possible?" I asked.

"I heard that the Core-torn could not only absorb us but other biological and non-biological matter."

"Then why are we not dead yet?"

"Only one of them would plan this, stay still, moving costs elemental energy, and it may look like it can not attack from range, but they can."

"How? They need an element for that," I asked.

"We do not know, but from what I know, it seems that their lasers are made of physical power, their might.

"SPREAD OUT AND FIND IT!" I heard Thorn-wing roar.

We kept going further until we stopped, I felt a sharp pain ring through my core, and Baragon changed direction.

"They found it," he said, charging through the forest and stepping past the titan trees. Not long after I saw it, a pale long, thick neck with a gaping maw, engulfed in long tounges, was one of us, but I could not tell which species due to the tounges.

The Dragon was lifted into the mouth, it slamming shut, the maw opened far too wide, and out came a revolting pile of pale flesh. The pile lay still then shock rapidly, and the next moment was wildly charging towards us. Its body was mangled, its flesh stretched, and bone spines jutting out of its sunken skin.

I could still tell it was an arm-wyvern which was terrifying, seeing one of us become that. My core filled with disgust and rage. This element-less abomination killed and turned one of our own, three reasons in moments.

"IT MUST BE DESTROYED!" I roared, leaning back and ramming into Baragon's outstretched arm.

"IT MUST BE DESTROYED!" countless Dragons roared, swarming towards it.

"STOP!" The bark Dragons and Baragon boomed back. One moment they were rushing towards the Monster. Then the next, they were not, as another maw like before burst from the rooted earth spraying the fragments as it emerged.

In one bite, the group of around twenty Dragons were devoured. The head rose and looked at us; its pale eyes like the deepest of voids, I saw part of its mouth rise just slightly. Was it smiling at us? They would not go down easily as the head shock the flesh rising, part of the mouth was dissolved. Within, I saw them bound by those tentacles tounges and their cores being torn out, by tounges, the hole quickly sealed.

"Why are we not helping them?" I screamed, "we have to do something."

"There is nothing, we can do," one from our party said solemnly, the head's shaking ceased, and it then opened its maw. Their bodies tumbled out, sticking and de-sticking from the tongue as they fell.

They were no longer Dragons. Their bodies all made pale, monstrous. The new Core-torn shuddered then rose in their new bodies. They turned their eyes to us, and the moment they saw us charged using every limb, no thought inside their core-less bodies.

"stay back, Drydra," Baragon said, placing his arm in front of me, "we will take the larger ones you take that Imp Core-torn. Disentargtion is the best way to destroy a Devourer, though your vines will work." Baragon glared at me, "do not touch them or sever their limbs, their skin will absorb your flesh, and the limbs will attack."

"Right," I replied, seeing the Imp, which had the shape of a small mancer. Each party had the same number, and each Dragon fought one of them. I flew to the side to avoid the chaos as they collided, and I saw the Imp Core-torn shambling along the ground. It was so small, so young. The Imp had its immortal life ahead of it, but it was dead, and its body desecrated made to look like all the other Devourers, with another mouth on its belly. I fired a solar beam right through it and kept flying.

I saw my laser had gone right through its chest mouth. It jerked its head towards, and from the chest-mouth, an orange beam shot forth. I tried to dodge, but I was not fast enough, the attack burst through my chest and severed my wings at their connection, and I plummeted down to earth.

Its screech shook the air, the noise so intense that as it entered my ears, it stuck my core with pain.

I saw the Devourer rush me on all fours, both jaws wide and eyes blank. It was too fast. Without thinking, a vine wall rose before me, and it slammed into it moments later. Its claws broke through, followed by its rest. I trapped it, but still, it swiped, still gnashed its teeth. I manced the vines to wrap around the Core-torn, but silver energy swirled around its claws. It waved them and tore my vines apart. It leapt for me, jaws open and claws at the ready. I flapped back with my new wings, and it came for me, swiping with all claws, biting, head-bashing and lashing its tail. All at once. It became a swaling mass of limbs, relentless, never stopping, I had to stay back, but it would always follow. I flew up it jumped up and slashed me.

I dodged the slashes and sent it back down by slamming my tail upon it, sure to lose the layer. It smashed into the earth, and when it quickly stood, I saw its body was even more mangled, pale squirming blood seeping from its wounds which closed, leaving scars.

It jumped towards me, firing a might laser as it went, the beam striking once more; I could not predict its path. The Devourer gripped me in the air and took me through the air. I could not fly, and I could not push it off, its grip too deep, it drove its claws into my chest, and tentacles emerged from both mouths creeping towards my chest.

Something pierced my back, so I twisted to the side to see a blade glide past me and run through the Monster's head, followed by several more as I landed on the safe part of the branch. The Monster tore its head free, the blade still embedded in its skull, which I saw become flesh and squirm its way into the body.

The same happened with the others; though I was safe, it still had me in its grasp. I saw the monster squirm violently and roar. It tried to tear into me, but it stopped every time. It kept struggling, but it did not drop down, shortly after the struggling stopped. It stared at me with the same blanc eyes from before, but these were different, the way the eyelids were, then it spoke.

"Doooooooo," It stretched its body and growled slightly, "this body has its vocal cords intact," it stared at me, and my terrified face "perhaps keep." I fired a solar beam blowing through its head, but the head reformed instantly.

"by Ominomgon, what are you?"

"Your god flesh? When eat all, be worse. Not worry, flesh not eat here," the Devourer snapped its neck down to the battle and smiled. Gripping me, it bounded off the branch and ran towards the fight. I was flung right over the rampaging Core-torn and into Baragon's arms.

"How are you not dead? Baragon asked.

"I have no clue, but this is not a forest."

"I knew it," he replied. The Imp charged into one of the nearby Devourers, sinking in, hijacking the body and then repeating until all Core-torn were a part of it. What stood before us was now nothing more than a mound of flesh with arms, legs, tentacles, tails, and other appendages randomly along the surface. The Amalgamation of flesh moved towards us; walking was not the correct term for this thing.

"We can destroy it; Amalgamations are the easiest stage to fight. Due to limbs covering every part of them, they are limited in their movements. Though they are still incredibly dangerous," it was now rolling towards us each limb, pushing its mass along the ground.

"Stop it," Baragon commanded, and along the ground, large spikes of bark burst forth and drove into the Amalgamation. More barbs skewered through from below, bark boulders were hurled, slammed into the mass of flesh, and vines encircled, squeezing the anti-life out of the Monster.

"Use your vines," I stabbed my claws into the ground and sent my energy through the ground though it was too far away for my energy to reach.

"I can not reach it, and I do not want to get closer."

"You will be able to attack with bark magic," Baragon replied.

"Yes, but how?" I asked.

"Eat my leg," he said, holding out one of his little legs before me, "eating elemental matter is one way to unlock a new sub-element. I did as he asked, eating the leg in one bite; the outside was crunchy though the inside was both rough and soft. I felt the bark fragments slide down my gullet and enter my stomach, where I absorbed them. The bark then reformed in my chest. I could then pull a piece of the mass and bring it back up my throat and mouth. From there, I built up energy in my mouth then opened it, sending the bark flying into the Amalgamation. Which was struggling every time one of its many limbs became free, they were bound again. The monstrosity let out a muffled roar.

"EEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUGH" sounded from the mass of flesh. Above I saw large heads form on the trees and blast might at the bound mass below, the beams washed away all elemental matter, with little effect to it. One of the titan trees bent over with the end armed with eight claws, the Amalgamation was lifted above the ground.

"Retreat," one from our party said as we retreated back, the Monster landing behind us soon after. Did the tree throw it? We turned to the towering mass.

"THISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS FFOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM WILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO," every head roared in unison. I saw the limbs sink into the body until a limbless blob remained, appendages burst forth, the legs were below, the arms were in the middle, the tentacles were below the wings. Heads and tail of various lengths and sizes emerged from the front and back. The monstrosity roared.

"all flesh die!" It roared.

the Monster charged, pale orange beams erupting from the heads as it thundered towards us.