“You know, black scales are not conducive to staying cool in a freaking desert.” The mostly black dragon named Cross grumbled to himself after what felt like an eternity of walking across scorching sand. The only part of him that wasn't already baked was the stripe of white that ran from the tip of his snout to the back of his head and the one across his eyes, and even those were starting to get uncomfortably warm. At this point he was more than certain he was dehydrated, and if he didn't find shade soon he was probably going to suffer a case of heat-stroke. The prospect of dying from either of those made him glance at the white sheath of the sword at his hip. For a moment he was seriously considering killing himself before he suffered either of those fates, he was pretty sure that would be a less miserable way to die.
“Quit whining and take your glasses off, you'll be able to see the light better if you do.” The voice of Pandora, his sword, echoed in his head.
“See the light?! It's bright enough that I can see even through the black lenses!” He hissed back at it. Nevertheless, he took the black stained glasses off. It took his eyes a minute to adjust to the light, but when he could see he felt rather dense. There was a town not more than two hundred yards away, a short distance compared to how far he had already walked.
“Now get moving, I feel like I might melt from the heat.”
“If it'd shut you up, heat stroke might just be worth it.” Cross muttered under his breath as he forced his aching body to start moving again. The few minutes it took to reach the town felt like an eternity in his current state, but he still made it there. Two steps into town his legs gave out, and his vision started to go dark. By the time his head hit the ground, he had already passed out.
* * *
“It's about time you woke up, you lazy bum.” Those were the first words he heard when he started to regain consciousness, the usual quip from Pandora. Had he the energy to move, or speak for that matter, he would have chucked it across the room or given a wise remark of his own. His attempts to do the second however merely resulted in a raspy cough.
“So, you're finally awake. I must say I’m rather surprised, it's only been a few hours.” Hearing a voice other than Pandora's whisper almost made him jump out of his skin. When he opened his eyes to see who spoke, he saw a white vixen wearing matching dusty brown shirt and pants.
Still rather delirious from the heat, he said the first thing the came to his mind, “You look like an angel, so that must mean i'm dead. Right?”
The vixen laughed and set a cool, damp towel on his forehead. “No, but you were fairly close to it when I found you. Now, drink some water.” She didn't give him much of a choice in the matter, she almost drowned him in the process of giving it to him, before she asked a very reasonable question, “What on earth were you doing walking through the desert without water?”
“Don't tell her too much,” Again Pandora whispered in the back of his head, “just say you're looking for someone.”
“I'm looking for someone.” Cross regurgitated the answer that he had just been fed by his sword as he pushed himself into an upright position. That was true enough, it just left out the details of who and why.
The vixen gave him a rather skeptical look at that point. “So, you went walking through a scorching hot desert, without food or water, to find this person.” She said as she armed herself with another cup of water.
“Something like that.” Cross chirped as he shakily took the water, drinking slowly this time, before introducing himself “I'm Cross, by the way.”
“Well Cross, it's good to finally speak with you. My name is Lyra.” A pristine white smile flashed on the vixen's face as she reached out to gently shake his free hand. “Now if you don't mind me asking, why do you carry a sword? Is it merely for protection, or does it have something to do with your line of work?”
This Lyra was a sharp one, he had to stop and think about how he was going to put this without giving her too much information. “Both. I guess you could say I'm a guard of sorts, and a bounty hunter when the need arises.” Thankfully, Lyra seemed content with that answer. Yet, while she seemed content with that answer, he could tell that something about that struck a nerve, for she suddenly seemed lost in thought. “I hope that's not going to be a problem.”
That seemed to bring her back to the present. “No, not at all.. It's just that. No, I shouldn't ask you to. You're still recovering.” She looked at the floor, hands curled into tight fists around the bottom of her shirt. He knew something was wrong now, very badly wrong. He could tell she desperately wanted help with something, but he knew she wouldn't ask. Or at least, not without a push to do so.
The white cross in the center of his black eyes started to spin in a steady circle as he called on some of his power. “Look at me.” He spoke softly, yet firmly as he put the force of his will into each word. Sure enough, her blue eyes came up to meet his own dark eyes. Almost immediately the hypnotic lull of his gaze started to relax her muscles and mind.
“What are you doing?” Her voice was softer now, almost as if she were talking in her sleep.
He didn't answer her question, not yet at least. “What is it you need my help with?” Even in the trance she was in, he could tell she was trying to resist.
“Raiders have been attacking the town, looting and killing. They.. Killed my parents.” Those last three words somehow snapped her out of his trance, and she almost immediately started to cry. Her sobs made Cross' blood turn cold, and a flicker of rage started to burn in his mind.
“Cross, she's right. You haven't recovered enough.” Pandora chimed in immediately as if it knew what he was thinking of doing now, but the words just washed over Cross.
“You want them to be avenged, am I right?” Cross' voice was like ice now, and that sudden change in his voice seemed to shock Lyra out of her tears. He could tell she was startled by how he sounded, and by the flicker of rage that burned in his gaze. He could feel that she was about to argue, he cut her off. “It will take me at most a day to recover, my body has been through much worse. Now please, answer the question.”
“Yes..” Lyra's voice was soft, as if she were ashamed of her answer. That simply made Cross' conviction all the stronger. He could feel the pain in her heart, and all the suffering that she had endured. He knew the pain of losing family, he knew it all to well. He had made his decision, and even Pandora knew it would be pointless to argue with him from here.
“It shall be so.”
* * *
Cross dreamed of gunfire and screaming that night, or at least he thought he was dreaming. Half dazed from waking up mid sleep, everything sounded muffled for a moment. He could hear something echoing faintly in the back of his mind, it was a single word. He was sure he had heard it before he went to sleep. It took a bullet blowing out the window near him to snap him to reality. Raiders!
“Pandora!” The still sheathed blade jumped from the table across the room to his his outstretched hand. The adrenaline rushing through his body barely gave him enough strength to get out of bed, but he knew he had to move. He had to do something, otherwise more people here were going to die. More specifically, he had to protect Lyra.
“What are you going to do, Cross?” Pandora whispered in his mind, but he didn't have an answer. He didn't know what he was going to do. He hardly had the strength to move, let alone fight. He went to take another step, but his legs gave out. The last thing he heard before he collapsed unconscious on the floor, was Lyra screaming.
* * *
“Well now, Cross, you seem to be having trouble. When I gave you the assignment to find the source of the disturbance in the area's balance, I thought it was going to be a simple job. I've been watching your progress, and been doing some further surveillance of the area.” The hiss of the one he called Master whispered in his mind. “I've come to the conclusion that you aren't strong enough to deal with this, and i'm going to recall you.”
Cross' thoughts immediately shot to Lyra, and what would happen to her if he were recalled to the Dark Palace. There was no telling what the bandits would do with her! He couldn't abandon her, he wouldn't abandon her. “I refuse.”
Even spoken softly, the words that came next seethed with untold power and fury, “You dare to defy me?”
“If you've been watching, you know the debt I owe Lyra. You know what I said i'd do. I can't leave her to the raiders.”
There was silence at first, then he heard something that he could have sworn was laughter. “You still aren't strong enough, and for defying my orders I should simply let you die. But, you still can be of use. For your courage, i'm going to give you a gift. Those black eyes of yours already hold some power, but simply hypnotizing won't be enough.” There was silence for a moment, as if his master was considering what he was about to do. “There for i'm going to break one of the seals holding the chaotic powers in your blood in check. When you wake up, you're going to have two options. Tame the power in your body, or be torn to pieces by it. Good luck, Cross.”
* * *
When Cross woke up, it felt as if every part of his body were being torn to pieces. Blood was oozing from his nostrils, and he could barely breathe. This must have been what his master had meant. His own power was trying to kill him, and it was truly agonizing. At this rate he probably only had a few minutes till it would kill him, so he had to think quickly.
He closed his eyes, trying to focus his mind on a peaceful thought. That effort was met by a wave of agony that left him curled up on the floor coughing blood. Apparently trying to calm it wasn't going to work. He tried forcing the power out of his body next, only to feel like his scales were melting. He couldn't force it down, he couldn't push it out. What else was there he could do? Was he just supposed to die?
His vision started to go black as blood-loss started to take it's toll. Now he was sure he was going to die, and that meant Lyra would.. No! He couldn't leave her to the raiders, he couldn't let her die. He refused to let that happen. He could feel his heart slowing. The pain in his body was overwhelming him. He was going to die.
He saw an image flash in his head of Lyra at the mercy of the Raiders. “No, I won't let that happen!” Blood came out with that furious roar, “I refuse to let that happen! This is my body, my power. NOW OBEY!” Just as suddenly as it had started the pain stopped, and he could feel his body started to mend itself. He had found the way to control it, he had to force it to obey him.
Again the picture flashed through his mind, and he felt that rage burning in his heart again. With each beat of his heart, the rage grew. With each beat, he could feel the power coursing through his veins crackling with the desire to be used. “Pandora, it's time to get to work.”
“Of course it is. The wicked never get to rest.”
