Dawn- An age of Darkness

Dick went flying through a building and fell a few meters away from me. But I didn't have time to worry about him as I was pinned to the ground by a foot as big as ten times my face. 

"I thought you said he was just going to watch?" Dick threw up some blood and got up. 

Xerphas pressed his feet on my chest so hard that my lungs exhausted the rest of the air it had left. I couldn't talk. I couldn't reach my sword either. It was about two feet away from me. Xerphas was sure taking his sweet time playing with my fleeting life. I couldn't breathe, so it was harder to maintain focus. But I tried to cast a spell. It didn't work. I reached out for the sword and it wasn't working either. 

Just a little more….

"Give it up mortal. You were valiant for an insect, but it all ends here," Xerphas grinned. His breath smelled horrible and he croaked and rattled all the while.

"Sorry, I'm late!" Arrows of fire came my way and fell on Xerphas. He deflected them with his tail but that gave me enough leverage to get my sword and shove it in his legs.

A bone-chilling roar filled the air and I was freed from his clutches. He fell over. For a boss that was clearly overpowered, he fell quite a lot.

I gasped, panted, and barely got on my knees. "Glad you could make it."

"Me too." Lianne had arrived. If she hadn't, I'd be dead.

I couldn't have been more wrong in my life. Just when I thought Ashirnae had arrived to watch over things like he'd said, he turned out to be our greatest threat. He came straight for Dick and got in the way. In his own words, "I think he needs time to mature on his own. I don't want you to interfere. How about you play with me instead?" I couldn't tell if he was being serious or just messing around. 

Now he and Dick were at each other's throat. As much as I hated Dick's overpoweredness, I couldn't help but feel glad now. But he was still losing. Was that really playing around?

I was pretty defenseless going on alone against the damn dragon. The not-so-alive dragons from above didn't throw fire, rather they threw acid and miasma. Dodging them and fighting Xerphas got the best of me. Things went sour and I ended up literally beneath his feet. Thankfully Lianne arrived in the nick of time.

"Where's Servesta and Biteria?"

The things flying above the city were still there. They weren't moving normally. Their movements were kind of mechanical. But if one thing I learned from experience, it was that undead were never to be messed with. They occasionally threw acid at us but that wasn't a big deal compared to the major boss dragon in front of us. But for some reason, it seemed the undead weren't fully focused on us. Given their numbers, if they were we'd pretty much be dissolved by now.

"He's still in town, helping with the evacuation. And Biteria is nowhere to be found."

"That damn bunny!"

"Hey, you two, help me. This thing's a monster!" Dick yelled.

I didn't have time to look at him.

Xerphas got up and immediately threw his breath. 

Sorry buddy, you're on your own.

I jumped sideways and the breath followed me. I didn't have enough momentum to dodge to I tried casting magic. It didn't work. My mana had run out. Damn! I gritted my teeth and protected my head with my hand and the little mana leftovers. The fire reached my robe and I could feel the heat. How foolish was I to let my guard down in the middle of the fight? 

Had I learned nothing?

The armor was heat resistant but even so, my body was scorched. I didn't breathe to protect my lungs and it was suffocating. Time stopped. I couldn't tell how much time had passed. 

How much longer do I have to continue?

I was already on my knees, being charred alive. I didn't know what was happening but I couldn't really do or even think about anything. After who knows how long the fire stopped, I breathed but it hurt even more. I slowly opened my eyes. It was so bright. But then my eyes adjusted. My ears were ringing but I could hear faint screams. Dick was yelling. 

The burning smell of flesh, the smell I hated drifted in the air. 

Where was it coming from?

Me?

"What was that?" My question was caught up in my throat. I held my head in my hand. I couldn't keep my balance. My sword fell on the ground and made an audible clang. I couldn't feel my body anymore. 

"…way…out of the way… get out of the way!"

I looked up. I didn't know why but something was worrying Dick enough to yell things at me. 

What is that? It's so bright….

I closed my eyes. And then someone whom I knew for a long, long time tried to shove me aside. My eyes bolted open. She was shoving me to the sides and her eyes glistened like rubies. She'd saved me countless times in the past. And maybe she was trying to save me one last time by protecting me from the light. 

I've been here before.

  I've seen this before… 

I've felt this before.

My head went fuzzy. 

Am I going to let history repeat again? 

Am I going to let people die for me again? 

Can I live through it, again?

  I grit my teeth. I squeezed my fist. I glared straight up.

NOOOO!!! 

My ears still ringed and my vision was still blurry. But I had to do this. I got up fast. 

I breathed a deep breath and shoved Lianne out of my side. I had no intention of using her as a meat shield. I already had my fair share of other people sacrificing themselves for me.

If I die, then there's no point in having a functioning body, right? 

I didn't have much mana left to cast a spell but I let them loose anyway. My body burned. It was a similar feeling to what happened back on that day when I fought Araan. A white transparent arm grew in the place of my missing arm and I grinned. At least I didn't have to relive that night again. At least I didn't have to bear that feeling again. At least this time no one had to die for me again.

"Arrgh!" I screamed and glared at the light that was falling on me. 

Even if I die, I'll still take you with me.

"Daarc!" Dick's voice shivered. He was in a desperate sword fight with Ashirnae. And yet he was still worrying about me. I should have given him more credit. 

"You guys don't have to worry about me." As soon as I said that the light fell on me. I heard loads of screams but they meant nothing to me. I had a dragon to kill. It was pretty far up in the sky. I brought out my knife, tied it with an arrow, and aimed for the dragon's chest. It probably wouldn't go as far as I wanted; I coated the arrow with magic, just in case. 

The bright light that fell on me wasn't all that bad. The ground around me was boiling like magma, but I didn't feel all that hot. The blue and white aura around me was keeping everything under control. Besides, my blood was hotter after all. My organs roared in pain and streams of blood leaked through my nose, ears, and mouth. My eyes burned, and tears and blood were evaporating before they could spill out of my body.

I couldn't lift up the bow due to the light. 

And the pain was excruciating but I knew it'd eventually stop. And that'd be my chance: my final chance.

And then by a difference of a second, the light vanished. Something was wrong with the dragon. It roared terribly and twitched midair. 

Looks like we found our rogue bunny. 

Biteria was biting down the damn thing's ear. 

How do you always get to places like that?

  I grinned. I chuckled. I laughed out loud.

It hurt but it was worth it.

I'm not alone.

I shot: I shot in the hopes of a brighter future. The arrow went up and I fell on the ground. My grin was still there. Way too many people have given their lives for me. I couldn't let them down.

Reach!

"Daarc," Lianne cried. 

I got on my knees, barely. I couldn't fall down, not yet. 

After an agonizing roar, the dragon fell before me: it had reached. 

Biteria fell a little further away and after twitching for a second it rose up.

That was one hell of an immortal bunny