![Novice [250]](https://i.imgur.com/lrYlde6.png)
There was nobody around for miles around, and for once Akeya was doing this as much for their sake as her own. While she definitely appreciated not having to deal with any intruders or outsiders during this important moment she was also quite sure that the average person, mage or not, wouldn't survive if they were here while things got nasty. The dragoness had found herself a good spot at the peak of one of the mountains that stuck out above the dunes of Desierto, where wind and weather had created a small plateau surrounded by stone on three sides. It didn't grant the cover of a cave or a proper structure but at least it'd be better than nothing. And at least there was a spot where she could place the eggs where they wouldn't roll away even if they were pushed by wind or the mountain itself shook.
That last part wasn't usually a concern, but Akeya had not idea what to expect except that she should prepare for the worst.
She pulled forth the letter she'd received years ago by now, which contained the instructions from her former senior mage and guild master Zack. She hadn't seen the man in years, but he was the one who'd given her the eggs and she'd have to successfully follow his guidance to complete the task he set out before her.
"Hey there dragonlady,
You did a good job with the tears of the moon, but you're not done yet. I might not be around for the next bit so you'll have to make do with this letter. Then again that's pretty much the same as last time, so no worries there.
Last time I said I bought those eggs from someone, right? Well, the guy who sold me them told me that these were extremely rare twilight dragon eggs. Or, at least, eggs that could be used to hatch twilight dragons. I dunno if they even exist, but this is how you're supposed to make them. No telling if it's the only method but it's what we got.
As you probably noticed they started out dark, then turned silver when you exposed them to the concentrated moonlight with the tears. That helped infuse them with the essence of night. Don't ask me why it's silver, I don't know either. It's all mystical moon nonsense to me. Could be that the dark is still in there or whatever.
To make them hatch and make them proper twilight eggs you'll also need to expose them to a lot of sunlight. Much more than you'll get from placing them somewhere on a beach, because the sunlight also needs to be concentrated like with the moonlight. Unfortunately I've never heard of anything like the tears of the sun, so we'll have to do this the hard way. Or at least a hard way.
Without something to concentrate the sunlight you'll have to go to Desierto. Even without fancy tools the sun there at noon is strong enough to scorch people alive if they're not careful. That said it'll still need several hours of exposure for our needs, so don't think this is as easy as going there and holding the eggs up. You'll be able to handle that though, right? I know you're not good with the sun but you'll just have to grin and bear it.
So place the eggs somewhere that the noon sun can roast them nice and settle in. Sounds easy, right? Well, no. I did some digging around to make sure and it looks like not everyone'll be happy with this thing. Neither creatures of the night nor creatures of the day like the idea of the two mixing. Last time you avoided having to deal with that because the eggs were dark and you were heading for the night area, but this time they're already carrying the essence of night. That'll attract the wrong type of crowd, if you know what I mean. Creatures of sun and light and all that shiny stuff will come either to destroy the abominations or to steal them and use them for their own purposes.
Don't let them do that.
Don't be waiting for anyone to come collect the little drakes either after they've hatched. They're yours, and I expect you to do a good job looking after them. Being a shadow dragon yourself and all you shouldn't need more motivation, but I think you might get more out of this job than you think as well.
Good luck and enjoy what life gives you
Yours sincerely your guildhood demon of speed,
Zack Rose BPA, WS"
As Zack had suspected he wasn't around any more. Akeya wasn't sure where exactly he had gone but regardless of the answer the result was that she had indeed nothing more to go by than this letter. This still left her with a couple of questions, and the wish that Zack had explained it to her personally and in greater detail rather than acting so cryptic about the whole ordeal. She'd only read this letter after he'd disappeared like he'd told her to, which meant that until it was too late to confront him she hadn't known enough to ask the right questions.
Were these eggs artificial? How did the man he got them from obtain them? Why had Zack been planning to have her hatch some twilight dragons to begin with? The dragoness sighed as she shook her head. She might never get the answer to these questions, so she'd have to make do with what she had.
She could have gone here earlier with the eggs, but she'd waited these years to make sure she'd be strong enough when the time came. She only had one shot at this, after all. Staring at the horizon where the sun was making its way upwards as the morning matured Akeya frowned. As Zack had accurately surmised, broad daylight wasn't her strong suit. She'd learned to endure it but it still meant she had fewer shadows to make use off and darkness based abilities simply weren't as strong during the day as during the night. Even worse, in this scenario she'd be dealing with creatures that gained their power from the sunlight. During the period of time where the sun was at its brightest, at the place where the sun would be at its strongest.
This was NOT going to be easy.
At least this mountaintop was pretty much perfect for the job. There was plenty of open air above that would give the sun time to shine upon the eggs while at the same time still granting enough cover from the sides that Akeya would have an easy time defending it. She looked back at the small nest she'd made by further carving out the small rough plateau and covering it with hides. There was little reason to wait any longer, so she retrieved the eggs from the shadow dimension in which she'd hid them and placed them in the middle of the nest, carefully arranging them and adding some additional hides to serve as padding without getting in the way of the sunlight. The eggs were dim and dark. Somewhat surprisingly their bright silver form only showed itself when they were hidden in darkness, as if they were little moons which only came out during the night. Fitting of the essence of night she supposed. She hoped that exposing them to the sun would have the desired effect.
With the nest having been arranged to the best of her abilities Akeya jumped up, using her powerful wings to help launch herself higher until she was perched at the very peak, the piece of stone that jutted up at what she would call the back of the summit. From here she had a good vantage pointof the desert that spread across the landscape like an ochre blanket. She also could quickly observe the state of the eggs by merely ducking her head. Folding her wings for now the dragoness used both clawed hands and feet to steady herself, her head slowly turning to survey the desert and the mountain. The sun became brighter as it climbed the skies, turning from the red of dawn into the brilliant white of day. Akeya was glad that she had found a way to shield her eyes against bright light years ago, or she would surely have been blinded.
A small motion down below caught her attention, the dragoness abruptly turning her head to focus on it. Small lizardlike creatures were heading towards the nest, using sharp claws to climb their way up the red stone that formed the mountain. These didn't appear to be creatures of light or day, but mere egg thieves which thought they had found an easy target.
Akeya jumped and swooped down on them, wings wide for a moment to direct her flight before she folded them and dove down like a bird of prey. The lizardlike creatures looked up and let out screeches when they noticed the approaching shadow, scrambling to get out of the way in time. Akeya didn't give them enough time, landing on all fours with her tail lashing out in a circle around her as she spun, small pebbles and shards of stone flying through the air and rolling down as sharp claws and hard scales collided with red stone. The egg thieves were all knocked off of their greedy little claws by the powerful tail, followed by Akeya lashing out with her claws. Pitiful cries were followed by the sound of bodies hitting the floor as her powerful talons shredded scaled skin and pale flesh, blood leaking from fatal wounds onto the sand and stone. With the egg thieves having been dispatched Akeya quickly made her way back to the nest.
The sun was closer to its zenith by now, but Akeya was paying more attention to the fact that something was lifting her eggs from their nesting place. It looked like a miniature sandstorm, whirling with purpose as the eggs floated on dusty winds. Before this strange intruder got the change to escape with its prize, however, Akeya grabbed the eggs and placed them back in the nest, ignoring the sand scratching against her scales and the hot winds blowing against her olive skin. Feeling the gaseous thief try to once more lift the eggs she bared her fangs and snarled viciously, the mountaintop suddenly filled with a cold killing intent along with the strong auric visage of a dragon.
It took several seconds before the whirlwind disappeared, flowing down the mountain and away. It looked like she had managed to convince it that these eggs weren't worth the trouble. Akeya climbed back onto her perch as she narrowed her eyes. She would have been lucky if this was the worst that she had to deal with.
Startled and on high alert Akeya tensed as she felt something powerful approach quickly. In the distance a figure of flame was heading straight towards her-no, the nest. It flew through the air with flaring wings, and once it was close enough Akeya could hear the cry of a bird, but fiercer and with the roaring of flames behind it. It appeared that a phoenix had appeared, and that it had no intention of letting the eggs hatch. Akeya spread her wings, a shadow falling on the stone she perched on before she leapt off once more. This time she took to the skies, once the phoenix was in range diving towards it with darkness gathering in her claws.
The two flying creatures collided in the air, one screeching and the other hissing as Akeya tore into the bird with claws of darkness. At the same time she could feel the flames scorching her skin, her scales protecting her somewhat but not being able to deflect all of the heat. Shooting out black strings she wrapped them around the phoenix, tying its wings while using her own wings to make the two of them descend towards the stone of the mountainside. Unfortunately she could feel the sunlight and the firebird's radiance quickly burning through the cords, and before the inevitable crash the phoenix broke free with a powerful cry. However it was too close to the rocks to avoid a collision completely.
With a flash Akeya was thrown off at the same time as the phoenix smashed into the mountain, the dragoness dragging her claws across the rocks for purchase even as she could feel sharp edges dig into the skin which had turned an angry red from the flames she had just been exposed to. Shaking her head to clear it she noticed that the firebird was already rising up and once more heading for her eggs. Letting loose another hiss the shadow dragon turned into darkness and dashed past the bird, reforming in front of her nest while forming a dark barrier.
The bird smashed straight into the barrier, a beak made of solid fire drilling into a shield best described as darkness made manifest. However once more Akeya could feel that she was at a disadvantage here. If it was night she could easily have repelled the bird, but everything she did was weakened at the sun which was shining down mercilessly whereas the phoenix seemed to be strengthened by bathing in the sunlight. Behind her was the nest, so her usual tactic of dodging wasn't acceptable here...
Gritting her teeth she changed the angle of the shield, the bird suddenly feeling less resistance as rather than completely blocking its attack the black shell was now deflecting it so it'd fly over the nest by a fair bit rather than hitting it head on. Once its direction was changed the shield disappeared, and instead came a tail with a line of razor-sharp dark spikes which sliced along the phoenix's underside. With another fiery screech the phoenix tumbled through the air. It tried to regain control over its flight even as its underside looked ragged. The wound left a trail of cinders and black smoke. Akeya turned around and leaped towards the phoenix to finish it off while it was still reeling, but suddenly something slammed into her side and tore into it with sharp talons.
Grabbing the feathery neck of whatever was attacking her she threw it, looking back at it to see something quite strange. It looked like a crow with red feathers, and three legs. With a clawed hand on her side to help stop the bleeding for now she used her wings to correct her flight even as she saw more of the strange crows arrive, circling around them and cawing loudly while in the distance the phoenix had finally recovered and was turning around to charge in once more. At least this time it was aiming straight for her, apparently having decided that Akeya had to be dealt with first before the eggs could be destroyed.
When the dragoness tried to prepare for the phoenix one of the crows shot forward, talons reaching out to claw out her eyes. With one clawed hand she deflected the attack, but now another one was raking open her back. She suppressed the urge to gasp out in pain even as the crows continue to scratch and claw at her, the dragoness now under assault by ten three-legged crows while the phoenix was approaching at high speed, its beak a spear of fire that would tear straight through her if she didn't manage to dodge.
Turning into a shadow Akeya separated herself into several pieces, spiralling outwards to confuse the birds before reforming above them. With the sun in her back she had a couple of seconds where her own shadow would help shelter her darkness-based attacks before the crows would have risen up to strike once more. In front of her ten black spheres formed, condensing until they were each the size of a large bullet. Once formed they shot forward, leaving a dark trail as each bullet shot straight through a crow, leaving the three-legged birds crying out before they disappeared in bursts of flame.
And then the phoenix struck Akeya, the dragoness crying out as the wing she had tried to use to defend herself was burned and pierced through. The membrane was in tatters, and she could smell seared flesh. With only one wing the dark dragon couldn't keep herself up in the air, and she quickly began to fall while the phoenix tried to slow down and turn around to strike once more, this time clearly aiming to finish her off.
Akeya's landing was rough, bones cracking as she couldn't turn into a shadow in time. The pain was too much of a distraction. While she was no stranger to pain and had trained to be able to resist it being pierced by a bird of sun and flame still was something else for a darkness-based creature such as herself. It felt like her very being had been burned, the dragoness spitting out a curse as she pushed herself back in time to see the phoenix coming down for the final strike. With one hand clutching her side where blood was leaking down all the way to her thigh she narrowed her eyes at the phoenix, then inhaled deeply despite the pain making her close one eye.
Once the phoenix was close she let loose a roar, darkness bursting from her mouth as a stream of black flames. The area around the mountaintop visibly darkened as the immense attack headed straight towards the phoenix, who cried out in challenge as it shot straight through the dragon's breath attack. Its own golden-red flames burned away the weakened dark flames, unyielding as a lance heading for the heart of the prey.
Akeya hissed and inhaled as she moved to the side while the bird's vision was blocked by her shadow dragon's roar. Once the phoenix had pierced through she struck with a pitch black dagger the size of a shortsword. With her having stepped to the side the phoenix missed, and as it passed through the space where she had been standing Akeya brought her hand down. The black blade cut straight through the phoenix's neck, separating its head from its body.
The phoenix's body crashed dangerously close to the nest, its flames licking at the hides before Akeya rushed over and kicked it despite the heat scorching her leg as well. Looking over she same that the phoenix's remains began to self immolate, but she was pretty sure she'd heard somewhere that if left alone a phoenix could resurrect from its death and immediately be reborn as a fully fledged phoenix. In her current state she wouldn't be able to handle another firebird bursting from the remains of the first one and boiling both her and the eggs.
Stabbing the head with her dagger she picked it up and placed it next to the body, then pushed both a bit further away from the nest while taking deep breaths and trying to gather her strength. Once the phoenix couldn't be pushed any further away without rolling down the mountainside (it was already beginning to shift dangerously) Akeya closed both her eyes and concentrated, gathering as much of her energy in the middle of her being as possible before releasing it as an explosive wave of darkness. It engulfed much of her surroundings, only her own caution limiting it to where it wouldn't affect the nest. The phoenix, however, got covered entirely, and after the burst of dark dissipated the phoenix was gone as well. Whether it would reincarnate somewhere else Akeya didn't know, but at least it wouldn't be a problem for her any longer.
Dragging the burned leg Akeya slowly walked over to the nest, then sat down next to it. She placed the dagger on the ground so she could clutch her bleeding side. With stiff movements she pulled her burned wing to the front so she could inspect it with her emerald eyes. It truly had been ravaged, the membrane gone for the most part and what remained looking like it could fall apart at the slightest touch, not a single drop of moisture left and as fragile as ancient parchment. scales had been burned almost clean off, the flesh underneath red and swollen to the point of tearing, blood glistening from beneath. She couldn't see any white of bone, but she was definitely not going to regenerate her wing in one day.
Sitting there with burn wounds all over her body, with dried blood caking the wounds left behind by the crows, Akeya looked up at the soon which was now very close to its zenith. This had taken a lot more out of her than most missions she'd gone on, and all because of that bloody sun. She could feel it bearing down on her like a hammer of heat, draining her of energy and leaving her in a miserable state. Every time she tried to use darkness magic she could feel the brilliant gaze far above burn it away. Under normal circumstances she could easily have taken care of the phoenix, but here where the sun was at its strongest... She didn't care for this place.
At least she'd dispatched of the assailants without them being able to touch the eggs. She didn't know what the three-legged crows were about, but they'd really made things difficult for her even if they individually weren't much of a threat. Distracting her to the point that the phoenix could hit her square on... if it wasn't for that she wouldn't have had to sacrifice a wing to prevent a potentially lethal wound. If something else showed up with any decent amount of power she wasn't sure what she would do. She didn't think she could fight it off, but the other option was to let the eggs be destroyed or taken... and she absolutely refused that. She wasn't usually attached to anything, her lack of empathy making it difficult for her to really care much for others, but with these eggs she felt a motherlike desire to protect them and look after them.
She was afraid that, despite her logical mind telling her that it was senseless, she might end up defending these eggs to her death.
When the sun reached its peak and the unrestrained light of noon hit the eggs the objects of Akeya's protectiveness flared up with light. Akeya herself, who'd been taking this opportunity to recover, watched as they shone golden, then silver, then... A final burst of light hid the eggs from view for a moment before revealing the results of Akeya's stubbornness.
The three eggs each had turned a beautiful soft blue, subtly darker near the top and faintly lighter near the bottom. Swirling patterns of gold and silver adorned the surface, the orange-gold more dominant at the bottom and the silver mostly present at the top. More mysteriously around the three eggs there was an... unusual phenomenon. The entire desert was being blasted with the full might of the sun, but in the area directly surrounding the eggs there was instead a space were everything was perfectly visible, but there was neither shadows nor the glow of reflected light. Akeya studied it with both stunned, relieved and curious eyes as she placed one hand close to the eggs to watch how her own midnight scales failed to produce either shadow or gleam.
Slowly an tenderly Akeya touched all three the eggs, feeling the essence of the creatures inside. Before it had been very faint, but now it was so clear that she thought she could make out movements. As soon as she thought that she noticed that one of the eggs was already slightly moving from side to side, pushing against the hides before coming to a halt. It looked like, now that the process had been completed, the eggs were going to hatch soon. The thought brought a smile to Akeya's face as for once she felt genuinely happy and proud, her usual cold and calculating mind being overwhelmed by motherly instincts far older and deeper ingrained than whatever rational thought attempted to restrain it. She'd successfully protected her hatchlings, and she'd be able to watch them finally enter the world properly.
She was so caught up in the unusual sensation of joy that she actually yelped in surprise when suddenly a powerful presence made itself known. From above a streak of blinding light shot down, slamming down onto the perch where Akeya had been keeping watch before. Akeya raised her hands to protect herself while her one good wing shielded the eggs, the burst of wind that resulted from the sudden arrival making her hair briefly wave behind her while sand and pebbles were blasted away. When the dust had settled a large figure was visible, and Akeya's heart sunk as she realized that her younglings might end up killed even now.
the figure was vaguely humanoid, but showed no flesh or skin to identify itself as such. Instead it had wings of solid light, and its body was wrapped in pure white robes with golden sigils inscribed upon them. Aside from the robes it also had gleaming metal gauntlets, greaves and boots, and Akeya suspected there was more armour hidden underneath the robes. What was visible of its hooded head suggested that it was also formed of light, and in one hand it wielded a large blade which looked like it had been forged from a small piece of the sun.
"DARK DRAGON. YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO CREATE SOMETHING WHICH SHOULDN'T EXIST. OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE BALANCE WE WILL ALLOW YOU TO LEAVE." It raised the sword, pointing it at Akeya and the nest. "HOWEVER, YOUR SPAWN WILL BE DESTROYED."
Akeya stared, her eyes narrowed to slits even as her mental gears turned frantically. She couldn't fight this thing. She wasn't sure she could have fought it if she had been at her full strength. It looked like something far more powerful than a mere phoenix had decided to intervene. However she couldn't let the eggs be destroyed! She refused to let that happen! The dragoness breathed heavily, slowly standing up while she silently thanked the stars that at least this one was rational enough to be willing to speak rather than keep attacking relentlessly. Still clutching her side she hissed her answer, emerald eyes seizing up the creature of light without hesitation despite her nearly crippled condition.
"These aren't my spawn by blood, but they are still my eggs by soul. I will not let them be destroyed because of old beliefs that dark and light cannot meet. Logic and rationality have nothing to do with this: I will die before I let you kill my hatchlings." The area was now filled with the cold-blooded killing intent that could make the most rabid of animals hesitate and turn tail. "I will kill you before I let that happen."
The figure didn't immediately reply, but when it did there was no hesitation in its voice either.
"WE HAVE GIVEN YOU THE OPTION TO LEAVE, AND YOU HAVE REFUSED. WE WILL DESTROY YOU ALONG WITH YOUR SPAWN." It grabbed the hilt of its sun-sword with both hands, although before it could begin to charge Akeya raised the hand she wasn't using to hold her side. "If you want to honour the balance you can do so by not destroying the eggs until I am dead. Let me fight to protect my spawn."
Another pause. "AGREED. WE SHALL LET YOU DIE IN COMBAT BEFORE WE REMOVE THE ABOMINATION." The solar moved so Akeya was in between itself and the eggs, raising its sword. "DEFEND YOURSELF."
A flash of light, and Akeya felt a sharp pain in both hands. She had tried to block the strike with both claws, but even so it seared and cut both without much difficulty. Raising her hands she saw that they were charred black, and she could barely feel them. Hissing through her teeth she gathered all her power and turned it into another barrier in front of herself, trying her best to keep it up despite the sunlight immediately eating away at it. In front of her the solar raised its sword once more and charge, ramming the tip of the sun-sword against the barrier where a brilliant flash would have burned out Akeya's eyes if they weren't protected with magic. The flash didn't end as the sword kept pushing against the barrier, Akeya narrowing her eyes to slits and gritting her teeth as she poured everything she had into maintaining the barrier. Her mana was burning away at an incredible pace, and the solar showed no sign of flagging in its assault. On Akeya's side the darkness deepened and darkened before inevitably being burned away, Akeya crying out in pain as the sword cut deep into the side which had already been wounded before. Grabbing the solar's arms she managed to push the sword away and back, but after that she fell to her knees, her breathing ragged and filled with pain. Her vision was blurry as it was hard to focus, all her attention being on not losing control over her body and spasming from the sheer agony of having a sun-sword pierce your stomach area. If the phoenix felt like her being was on fire, this felt like a portion of her had been vaporized.
The solar raised its sword, this time gathering more strength as the weapon began to glow brighter and brighter. Only Akeya's kneeling body was preventing the eggs from being bathed in a light that could probably make metal glow. Akeya herself felt like her body was slowly being burned away, tears streaming down her face from the intensity of the heat and the pain. She had no energy left, she could barely move, and both she and the eggs were going to die soon. She'd be mad at Zack if she wasn't too busy cursing her own weakness. She thought that after all these years it'd be fine, but now that push came to shove she was just waiting to be killed off.
Glancing back at the eggs she noticed how they were still moving from side to side, as if the young inside were still trying to break out despite what was awaiting them outside. She had the opportunity of being the mother of dragons who contained both light and darkness, day and night, and she hadn't done good enough a job of it. Her eyes widened as a thought appeared inside her head, a desperate and stupid thought. It wasn't going to work, it couldn't possibly work... but at this point she didn't have anything else left.
If the dragons inside of the eggs could be dragons of both night and day... she might as well see if she could truly be called their mother, even if they didn't share her blood.
"DISAPPER IN THE LIGHT OF THE LION ZENITH."
The solar released its final strike, and rather than a slash of its sword it was more a slash which turned into a lion as bright as the sun, which roared as it shot straight towards Akeya. The stone underneath melted and it left behind a shockwave from the superheated air. Akeya was still kneeling, her head towards the ground as she looked up at her impending doom through her eyelashes.
The moment the lion of light was about to hit her there was a flash of darkness followed by a much bigger explosion of light, the entire mountain shaking as the rocks which had surrounded the plateau before were partially melted away and partially blasted away.
Then the light was drawn inwards, the radiance akin to a miniature sun not fading away as much as it was forcibly pulled towards something in the middle of it. The solar raised its sword in a defensive stance before a lance of light tore through its shoulder, leaving it staggering backwards before regaining its composure and balance. Keeping its blade at the ready it didn't show any more emotion than before, but the voice sounded even harder than before as if to convey some kind of tranquil fury.
"HAVE YOU TURNED YOURSELF INTO THAT WHICH CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO EXIST? EVEN THE DEFENCE OF YOUR SPAWN CANNOT EXCUSE SUCH DISREGARD OF THE LAWS OF THE WORLD."
"Well, it was the only option left. Besides, if my children can do it so can I."
Truth be told, Akeya felt quite ill. However she also felt overflowing like power, and she was pretty sure that for now at least she had strength equivalent to if she had activated Dragon Force. Or more, since before she'd doubted that Dragon Force would have done much since any darkness based attacks would have been worn away by the sun either way.
Akeya's midnight scales were mixed with scales of gold, and her skin was a swirling mix of her original olive skin and a much paler alternative. Standing up she could feel that her leg was still heavily wounded as well as the rest of her body, but at least she had the strength to move in spite of that. When the solar charged her once more Akeya looked at him, then raised a claw and grabbed the sword, abruptly pulling it to the side while with her other claw she punched the monster attacking her eggs right in the face. Her punch held enough strength that the solar was sent flying backwards, leaving the sword in Akeya's hand. The dragoness looked at the sword, then opened her mouth and began to eat it. The feeling of eating light instead of darkness still felt sickening, as if she was eating an actual fever, but she also felt it boosting her strength immensely.
She wasn't sure what for price she'd pay for this later, but right now it was exactly what she needed for herself and her eggs to survive.
"WE WILL MAKE SURE YOU AND YOUR SPAWN WILL BE ERADICATED."
Instead of answering Akeya just shook her head, followed by her dashing forward. In a blink she was right in front of the solar, lashing out with one claw to rip off its robes to reveal its body of light and the gleaming armour it was wearing. When the solar tried to blast her with ray of light she ducked, then sweeped its legs out from underneath it. She followed this up by placing her hands on the ground and kicking herself up with her legs, spinning in the air before bringing her tail down onto the solar to smash it into the ground in a modified dropkick.
While the solar was still recovering from the slam (which had enough force behind it to bury the solar several inches into the red stone) Akeya sat down on top of it, grabbing its head and looking it in the... for lack of better word eyes.
"DO YOU THINK THIS WILL BE ACCEPTED BY THE REST OF THE WORLD?"
Akeya tilted her head to the side, then opened her mouth. Inhaling deeply the solar began to lose cohesiveness, the light that it was made of slowly being drawn into Akeya's mouth as she quite literally devoured the solar in its entirety. At the end the gleaming armour and the tattered fragments of the robes fell to the ground, the body of light they had been enshrouding having disappeared.
The dragoness stood up and walked back towards the nest, where she placed both clawed hands above the eggs. From one hand she let darkness emanate while the other emitted light, her one good wing shielding the eggs from the sun as she fed both light and dark, day and night, to the eggs. The wiggling had never stopped, and now quickly became stronger and stronger until the eggs began to crack, spiderwebs rapidly expanding across the strangely adorned eggshells. One egg, two eggs, three eggs... Akeya watched with unusually warm eyes as one by one the hatchlings finally broke free, clawing their way out of the eggs. They looked around, studied one another, then looked up at Akeya. Letting loose small rasping sounds they quickly climbed on top of her, climbing into her lap while Akeya signalled for Korikami to move the four of them into the safety of the shadow dimension.
She could already feel that the burst of strength she gained from eating the light was fading, but now that the three twilight dragons had hatched she could safely let Korikami return them to the guild. She'd also take the eggshells with her for safety's sake, but the equipment of the solar could be plundered by bandits for all she cared.
As the bright and scorching scenery of the desert was replaced by the dark shrine that was Korikami's inner realm Akeya looked at her claw. She studied how the scales of midnight and noon mixed, feeling like something important had changed. Maybe in her, maybe in the world. As her vision faded and she laid down to rest she covered the three hatchlings with her good wing, exhaling slowly.
She may indeed have gotten more from this task than she'd been expecting.
That last part wasn't usually a concern, but Akeya had not idea what to expect except that she should prepare for the worst.
She pulled forth the letter she'd received years ago by now, which contained the instructions from her former senior mage and guild master Zack. She hadn't seen the man in years, but he was the one who'd given her the eggs and she'd have to successfully follow his guidance to complete the task he set out before her.
"Hey there dragonlady,
You did a good job with the tears of the moon, but you're not done yet. I might not be around for the next bit so you'll have to make do with this letter. Then again that's pretty much the same as last time, so no worries there.
Last time I said I bought those eggs from someone, right? Well, the guy who sold me them told me that these were extremely rare twilight dragon eggs. Or, at least, eggs that could be used to hatch twilight dragons. I dunno if they even exist, but this is how you're supposed to make them. No telling if it's the only method but it's what we got.
As you probably noticed they started out dark, then turned silver when you exposed them to the concentrated moonlight with the tears. That helped infuse them with the essence of night. Don't ask me why it's silver, I don't know either. It's all mystical moon nonsense to me. Could be that the dark is still in there or whatever.
To make them hatch and make them proper twilight eggs you'll also need to expose them to a lot of sunlight. Much more than you'll get from placing them somewhere on a beach, because the sunlight also needs to be concentrated like with the moonlight. Unfortunately I've never heard of anything like the tears of the sun, so we'll have to do this the hard way. Or at least a hard way.
Without something to concentrate the sunlight you'll have to go to Desierto. Even without fancy tools the sun there at noon is strong enough to scorch people alive if they're not careful. That said it'll still need several hours of exposure for our needs, so don't think this is as easy as going there and holding the eggs up. You'll be able to handle that though, right? I know you're not good with the sun but you'll just have to grin and bear it.
So place the eggs somewhere that the noon sun can roast them nice and settle in. Sounds easy, right? Well, no. I did some digging around to make sure and it looks like not everyone'll be happy with this thing. Neither creatures of the night nor creatures of the day like the idea of the two mixing. Last time you avoided having to deal with that because the eggs were dark and you were heading for the night area, but this time they're already carrying the essence of night. That'll attract the wrong type of crowd, if you know what I mean. Creatures of sun and light and all that shiny stuff will come either to destroy the abominations or to steal them and use them for their own purposes.
Don't let them do that.
Don't be waiting for anyone to come collect the little drakes either after they've hatched. They're yours, and I expect you to do a good job looking after them. Being a shadow dragon yourself and all you shouldn't need more motivation, but I think you might get more out of this job than you think as well.
Good luck and enjoy what life gives you
Yours sincerely your guildhood demon of speed,
Zack Rose BPA, WS"
As Zack had suspected he wasn't around any more. Akeya wasn't sure where exactly he had gone but regardless of the answer the result was that she had indeed nothing more to go by than this letter. This still left her with a couple of questions, and the wish that Zack had explained it to her personally and in greater detail rather than acting so cryptic about the whole ordeal. She'd only read this letter after he'd disappeared like he'd told her to, which meant that until it was too late to confront him she hadn't known enough to ask the right questions.
Were these eggs artificial? How did the man he got them from obtain them? Why had Zack been planning to have her hatch some twilight dragons to begin with? The dragoness sighed as she shook her head. She might never get the answer to these questions, so she'd have to make do with what she had.
She could have gone here earlier with the eggs, but she'd waited these years to make sure she'd be strong enough when the time came. She only had one shot at this, after all. Staring at the horizon where the sun was making its way upwards as the morning matured Akeya frowned. As Zack had accurately surmised, broad daylight wasn't her strong suit. She'd learned to endure it but it still meant she had fewer shadows to make use off and darkness based abilities simply weren't as strong during the day as during the night. Even worse, in this scenario she'd be dealing with creatures that gained their power from the sunlight. During the period of time where the sun was at its brightest, at the place where the sun would be at its strongest.
This was NOT going to be easy.
At least this mountaintop was pretty much perfect for the job. There was plenty of open air above that would give the sun time to shine upon the eggs while at the same time still granting enough cover from the sides that Akeya would have an easy time defending it. She looked back at the small nest she'd made by further carving out the small rough plateau and covering it with hides. There was little reason to wait any longer, so she retrieved the eggs from the shadow dimension in which she'd hid them and placed them in the middle of the nest, carefully arranging them and adding some additional hides to serve as padding without getting in the way of the sunlight. The eggs were dim and dark. Somewhat surprisingly their bright silver form only showed itself when they were hidden in darkness, as if they were little moons which only came out during the night. Fitting of the essence of night she supposed. She hoped that exposing them to the sun would have the desired effect.
With the nest having been arranged to the best of her abilities Akeya jumped up, using her powerful wings to help launch herself higher until she was perched at the very peak, the piece of stone that jutted up at what she would call the back of the summit. From here she had a good vantage pointof the desert that spread across the landscape like an ochre blanket. She also could quickly observe the state of the eggs by merely ducking her head. Folding her wings for now the dragoness used both clawed hands and feet to steady herself, her head slowly turning to survey the desert and the mountain. The sun became brighter as it climbed the skies, turning from the red of dawn into the brilliant white of day. Akeya was glad that she had found a way to shield her eyes against bright light years ago, or she would surely have been blinded.
A small motion down below caught her attention, the dragoness abruptly turning her head to focus on it. Small lizardlike creatures were heading towards the nest, using sharp claws to climb their way up the red stone that formed the mountain. These didn't appear to be creatures of light or day, but mere egg thieves which thought they had found an easy target.
Akeya jumped and swooped down on them, wings wide for a moment to direct her flight before she folded them and dove down like a bird of prey. The lizardlike creatures looked up and let out screeches when they noticed the approaching shadow, scrambling to get out of the way in time. Akeya didn't give them enough time, landing on all fours with her tail lashing out in a circle around her as she spun, small pebbles and shards of stone flying through the air and rolling down as sharp claws and hard scales collided with red stone. The egg thieves were all knocked off of their greedy little claws by the powerful tail, followed by Akeya lashing out with her claws. Pitiful cries were followed by the sound of bodies hitting the floor as her powerful talons shredded scaled skin and pale flesh, blood leaking from fatal wounds onto the sand and stone. With the egg thieves having been dispatched Akeya quickly made her way back to the nest.
The sun was closer to its zenith by now, but Akeya was paying more attention to the fact that something was lifting her eggs from their nesting place. It looked like a miniature sandstorm, whirling with purpose as the eggs floated on dusty winds. Before this strange intruder got the change to escape with its prize, however, Akeya grabbed the eggs and placed them back in the nest, ignoring the sand scratching against her scales and the hot winds blowing against her olive skin. Feeling the gaseous thief try to once more lift the eggs she bared her fangs and snarled viciously, the mountaintop suddenly filled with a cold killing intent along with the strong auric visage of a dragon.
It took several seconds before the whirlwind disappeared, flowing down the mountain and away. It looked like she had managed to convince it that these eggs weren't worth the trouble. Akeya climbed back onto her perch as she narrowed her eyes. She would have been lucky if this was the worst that she had to deal with.
Startled and on high alert Akeya tensed as she felt something powerful approach quickly. In the distance a figure of flame was heading straight towards her-no, the nest. It flew through the air with flaring wings, and once it was close enough Akeya could hear the cry of a bird, but fiercer and with the roaring of flames behind it. It appeared that a phoenix had appeared, and that it had no intention of letting the eggs hatch. Akeya spread her wings, a shadow falling on the stone she perched on before she leapt off once more. This time she took to the skies, once the phoenix was in range diving towards it with darkness gathering in her claws.
The two flying creatures collided in the air, one screeching and the other hissing as Akeya tore into the bird with claws of darkness. At the same time she could feel the flames scorching her skin, her scales protecting her somewhat but not being able to deflect all of the heat. Shooting out black strings she wrapped them around the phoenix, tying its wings while using her own wings to make the two of them descend towards the stone of the mountainside. Unfortunately she could feel the sunlight and the firebird's radiance quickly burning through the cords, and before the inevitable crash the phoenix broke free with a powerful cry. However it was too close to the rocks to avoid a collision completely.
With a flash Akeya was thrown off at the same time as the phoenix smashed into the mountain, the dragoness dragging her claws across the rocks for purchase even as she could feel sharp edges dig into the skin which had turned an angry red from the flames she had just been exposed to. Shaking her head to clear it she noticed that the firebird was already rising up and once more heading for her eggs. Letting loose another hiss the shadow dragon turned into darkness and dashed past the bird, reforming in front of her nest while forming a dark barrier.
The bird smashed straight into the barrier, a beak made of solid fire drilling into a shield best described as darkness made manifest. However once more Akeya could feel that she was at a disadvantage here. If it was night she could easily have repelled the bird, but everything she did was weakened at the sun which was shining down mercilessly whereas the phoenix seemed to be strengthened by bathing in the sunlight. Behind her was the nest, so her usual tactic of dodging wasn't acceptable here...
Gritting her teeth she changed the angle of the shield, the bird suddenly feeling less resistance as rather than completely blocking its attack the black shell was now deflecting it so it'd fly over the nest by a fair bit rather than hitting it head on. Once its direction was changed the shield disappeared, and instead came a tail with a line of razor-sharp dark spikes which sliced along the phoenix's underside. With another fiery screech the phoenix tumbled through the air. It tried to regain control over its flight even as its underside looked ragged. The wound left a trail of cinders and black smoke. Akeya turned around and leaped towards the phoenix to finish it off while it was still reeling, but suddenly something slammed into her side and tore into it with sharp talons.
Grabbing the feathery neck of whatever was attacking her she threw it, looking back at it to see something quite strange. It looked like a crow with red feathers, and three legs. With a clawed hand on her side to help stop the bleeding for now she used her wings to correct her flight even as she saw more of the strange crows arrive, circling around them and cawing loudly while in the distance the phoenix had finally recovered and was turning around to charge in once more. At least this time it was aiming straight for her, apparently having decided that Akeya had to be dealt with first before the eggs could be destroyed.
When the dragoness tried to prepare for the phoenix one of the crows shot forward, talons reaching out to claw out her eyes. With one clawed hand she deflected the attack, but now another one was raking open her back. She suppressed the urge to gasp out in pain even as the crows continue to scratch and claw at her, the dragoness now under assault by ten three-legged crows while the phoenix was approaching at high speed, its beak a spear of fire that would tear straight through her if she didn't manage to dodge.
Turning into a shadow Akeya separated herself into several pieces, spiralling outwards to confuse the birds before reforming above them. With the sun in her back she had a couple of seconds where her own shadow would help shelter her darkness-based attacks before the crows would have risen up to strike once more. In front of her ten black spheres formed, condensing until they were each the size of a large bullet. Once formed they shot forward, leaving a dark trail as each bullet shot straight through a crow, leaving the three-legged birds crying out before they disappeared in bursts of flame.
And then the phoenix struck Akeya, the dragoness crying out as the wing she had tried to use to defend herself was burned and pierced through. The membrane was in tatters, and she could smell seared flesh. With only one wing the dark dragon couldn't keep herself up in the air, and she quickly began to fall while the phoenix tried to slow down and turn around to strike once more, this time clearly aiming to finish her off.
Akeya's landing was rough, bones cracking as she couldn't turn into a shadow in time. The pain was too much of a distraction. While she was no stranger to pain and had trained to be able to resist it being pierced by a bird of sun and flame still was something else for a darkness-based creature such as herself. It felt like her very being had been burned, the dragoness spitting out a curse as she pushed herself back in time to see the phoenix coming down for the final strike. With one hand clutching her side where blood was leaking down all the way to her thigh she narrowed her eyes at the phoenix, then inhaled deeply despite the pain making her close one eye.
Once the phoenix was close she let loose a roar, darkness bursting from her mouth as a stream of black flames. The area around the mountaintop visibly darkened as the immense attack headed straight towards the phoenix, who cried out in challenge as it shot straight through the dragon's breath attack. Its own golden-red flames burned away the weakened dark flames, unyielding as a lance heading for the heart of the prey.
Akeya hissed and inhaled as she moved to the side while the bird's vision was blocked by her shadow dragon's roar. Once the phoenix had pierced through she struck with a pitch black dagger the size of a shortsword. With her having stepped to the side the phoenix missed, and as it passed through the space where she had been standing Akeya brought her hand down. The black blade cut straight through the phoenix's neck, separating its head from its body.
The phoenix's body crashed dangerously close to the nest, its flames licking at the hides before Akeya rushed over and kicked it despite the heat scorching her leg as well. Looking over she same that the phoenix's remains began to self immolate, but she was pretty sure she'd heard somewhere that if left alone a phoenix could resurrect from its death and immediately be reborn as a fully fledged phoenix. In her current state she wouldn't be able to handle another firebird bursting from the remains of the first one and boiling both her and the eggs.
Stabbing the head with her dagger she picked it up and placed it next to the body, then pushed both a bit further away from the nest while taking deep breaths and trying to gather her strength. Once the phoenix couldn't be pushed any further away without rolling down the mountainside (it was already beginning to shift dangerously) Akeya closed both her eyes and concentrated, gathering as much of her energy in the middle of her being as possible before releasing it as an explosive wave of darkness. It engulfed much of her surroundings, only her own caution limiting it to where it wouldn't affect the nest. The phoenix, however, got covered entirely, and after the burst of dark dissipated the phoenix was gone as well. Whether it would reincarnate somewhere else Akeya didn't know, but at least it wouldn't be a problem for her any longer.
Dragging the burned leg Akeya slowly walked over to the nest, then sat down next to it. She placed the dagger on the ground so she could clutch her bleeding side. With stiff movements she pulled her burned wing to the front so she could inspect it with her emerald eyes. It truly had been ravaged, the membrane gone for the most part and what remained looking like it could fall apart at the slightest touch, not a single drop of moisture left and as fragile as ancient parchment. scales had been burned almost clean off, the flesh underneath red and swollen to the point of tearing, blood glistening from beneath. She couldn't see any white of bone, but she was definitely not going to regenerate her wing in one day.
Sitting there with burn wounds all over her body, with dried blood caking the wounds left behind by the crows, Akeya looked up at the soon which was now very close to its zenith. This had taken a lot more out of her than most missions she'd gone on, and all because of that bloody sun. She could feel it bearing down on her like a hammer of heat, draining her of energy and leaving her in a miserable state. Every time she tried to use darkness magic she could feel the brilliant gaze far above burn it away. Under normal circumstances she could easily have taken care of the phoenix, but here where the sun was at its strongest... She didn't care for this place.
At least she'd dispatched of the assailants without them being able to touch the eggs. She didn't know what the three-legged crows were about, but they'd really made things difficult for her even if they individually weren't much of a threat. Distracting her to the point that the phoenix could hit her square on... if it wasn't for that she wouldn't have had to sacrifice a wing to prevent a potentially lethal wound. If something else showed up with any decent amount of power she wasn't sure what she would do. She didn't think she could fight it off, but the other option was to let the eggs be destroyed or taken... and she absolutely refused that. She wasn't usually attached to anything, her lack of empathy making it difficult for her to really care much for others, but with these eggs she felt a motherlike desire to protect them and look after them.
She was afraid that, despite her logical mind telling her that it was senseless, she might end up defending these eggs to her death.
When the sun reached its peak and the unrestrained light of noon hit the eggs the objects of Akeya's protectiveness flared up with light. Akeya herself, who'd been taking this opportunity to recover, watched as they shone golden, then silver, then... A final burst of light hid the eggs from view for a moment before revealing the results of Akeya's stubbornness.
The three eggs each had turned a beautiful soft blue, subtly darker near the top and faintly lighter near the bottom. Swirling patterns of gold and silver adorned the surface, the orange-gold more dominant at the bottom and the silver mostly present at the top. More mysteriously around the three eggs there was an... unusual phenomenon. The entire desert was being blasted with the full might of the sun, but in the area directly surrounding the eggs there was instead a space were everything was perfectly visible, but there was neither shadows nor the glow of reflected light. Akeya studied it with both stunned, relieved and curious eyes as she placed one hand close to the eggs to watch how her own midnight scales failed to produce either shadow or gleam.
Slowly an tenderly Akeya touched all three the eggs, feeling the essence of the creatures inside. Before it had been very faint, but now it was so clear that she thought she could make out movements. As soon as she thought that she noticed that one of the eggs was already slightly moving from side to side, pushing against the hides before coming to a halt. It looked like, now that the process had been completed, the eggs were going to hatch soon. The thought brought a smile to Akeya's face as for once she felt genuinely happy and proud, her usual cold and calculating mind being overwhelmed by motherly instincts far older and deeper ingrained than whatever rational thought attempted to restrain it. She'd successfully protected her hatchlings, and she'd be able to watch them finally enter the world properly.
She was so caught up in the unusual sensation of joy that she actually yelped in surprise when suddenly a powerful presence made itself known. From above a streak of blinding light shot down, slamming down onto the perch where Akeya had been keeping watch before. Akeya raised her hands to protect herself while her one good wing shielded the eggs, the burst of wind that resulted from the sudden arrival making her hair briefly wave behind her while sand and pebbles were blasted away. When the dust had settled a large figure was visible, and Akeya's heart sunk as she realized that her younglings might end up killed even now.
the figure was vaguely humanoid, but showed no flesh or skin to identify itself as such. Instead it had wings of solid light, and its body was wrapped in pure white robes with golden sigils inscribed upon them. Aside from the robes it also had gleaming metal gauntlets, greaves and boots, and Akeya suspected there was more armour hidden underneath the robes. What was visible of its hooded head suggested that it was also formed of light, and in one hand it wielded a large blade which looked like it had been forged from a small piece of the sun.
"DARK DRAGON. YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO CREATE SOMETHING WHICH SHOULDN'T EXIST. OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE BALANCE WE WILL ALLOW YOU TO LEAVE." It raised the sword, pointing it at Akeya and the nest. "HOWEVER, YOUR SPAWN WILL BE DESTROYED."
Akeya stared, her eyes narrowed to slits even as her mental gears turned frantically. She couldn't fight this thing. She wasn't sure she could have fought it if she had been at her full strength. It looked like something far more powerful than a mere phoenix had decided to intervene. However she couldn't let the eggs be destroyed! She refused to let that happen! The dragoness breathed heavily, slowly standing up while she silently thanked the stars that at least this one was rational enough to be willing to speak rather than keep attacking relentlessly. Still clutching her side she hissed her answer, emerald eyes seizing up the creature of light without hesitation despite her nearly crippled condition.
"These aren't my spawn by blood, but they are still my eggs by soul. I will not let them be destroyed because of old beliefs that dark and light cannot meet. Logic and rationality have nothing to do with this: I will die before I let you kill my hatchlings." The area was now filled with the cold-blooded killing intent that could make the most rabid of animals hesitate and turn tail. "I will kill you before I let that happen."
The figure didn't immediately reply, but when it did there was no hesitation in its voice either.
"WE HAVE GIVEN YOU THE OPTION TO LEAVE, AND YOU HAVE REFUSED. WE WILL DESTROY YOU ALONG WITH YOUR SPAWN." It grabbed the hilt of its sun-sword with both hands, although before it could begin to charge Akeya raised the hand she wasn't using to hold her side. "If you want to honour the balance you can do so by not destroying the eggs until I am dead. Let me fight to protect my spawn."
Another pause. "AGREED. WE SHALL LET YOU DIE IN COMBAT BEFORE WE REMOVE THE ABOMINATION." The solar moved so Akeya was in between itself and the eggs, raising its sword. "DEFEND YOURSELF."
A flash of light, and Akeya felt a sharp pain in both hands. She had tried to block the strike with both claws, but even so it seared and cut both without much difficulty. Raising her hands she saw that they were charred black, and she could barely feel them. Hissing through her teeth she gathered all her power and turned it into another barrier in front of herself, trying her best to keep it up despite the sunlight immediately eating away at it. In front of her the solar raised its sword once more and charge, ramming the tip of the sun-sword against the barrier where a brilliant flash would have burned out Akeya's eyes if they weren't protected with magic. The flash didn't end as the sword kept pushing against the barrier, Akeya narrowing her eyes to slits and gritting her teeth as she poured everything she had into maintaining the barrier. Her mana was burning away at an incredible pace, and the solar showed no sign of flagging in its assault. On Akeya's side the darkness deepened and darkened before inevitably being burned away, Akeya crying out in pain as the sword cut deep into the side which had already been wounded before. Grabbing the solar's arms she managed to push the sword away and back, but after that she fell to her knees, her breathing ragged and filled with pain. Her vision was blurry as it was hard to focus, all her attention being on not losing control over her body and spasming from the sheer agony of having a sun-sword pierce your stomach area. If the phoenix felt like her being was on fire, this felt like a portion of her had been vaporized.
The solar raised its sword, this time gathering more strength as the weapon began to glow brighter and brighter. Only Akeya's kneeling body was preventing the eggs from being bathed in a light that could probably make metal glow. Akeya herself felt like her body was slowly being burned away, tears streaming down her face from the intensity of the heat and the pain. She had no energy left, she could barely move, and both she and the eggs were going to die soon. She'd be mad at Zack if she wasn't too busy cursing her own weakness. She thought that after all these years it'd be fine, but now that push came to shove she was just waiting to be killed off.
Glancing back at the eggs she noticed how they were still moving from side to side, as if the young inside were still trying to break out despite what was awaiting them outside. She had the opportunity of being the mother of dragons who contained both light and darkness, day and night, and she hadn't done good enough a job of it. Her eyes widened as a thought appeared inside her head, a desperate and stupid thought. It wasn't going to work, it couldn't possibly work... but at this point she didn't have anything else left.
If the dragons inside of the eggs could be dragons of both night and day... she might as well see if she could truly be called their mother, even if they didn't share her blood.
"DISAPPER IN THE LIGHT OF THE LION ZENITH."
The solar released its final strike, and rather than a slash of its sword it was more a slash which turned into a lion as bright as the sun, which roared as it shot straight towards Akeya. The stone underneath melted and it left behind a shockwave from the superheated air. Akeya was still kneeling, her head towards the ground as she looked up at her impending doom through her eyelashes.
The moment the lion of light was about to hit her there was a flash of darkness followed by a much bigger explosion of light, the entire mountain shaking as the rocks which had surrounded the plateau before were partially melted away and partially blasted away.
Then the light was drawn inwards, the radiance akin to a miniature sun not fading away as much as it was forcibly pulled towards something in the middle of it. The solar raised its sword in a defensive stance before a lance of light tore through its shoulder, leaving it staggering backwards before regaining its composure and balance. Keeping its blade at the ready it didn't show any more emotion than before, but the voice sounded even harder than before as if to convey some kind of tranquil fury.
"HAVE YOU TURNED YOURSELF INTO THAT WHICH CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO EXIST? EVEN THE DEFENCE OF YOUR SPAWN CANNOT EXCUSE SUCH DISREGARD OF THE LAWS OF THE WORLD."
"Well, it was the only option left. Besides, if my children can do it so can I."
Truth be told, Akeya felt quite ill. However she also felt overflowing like power, and she was pretty sure that for now at least she had strength equivalent to if she had activated Dragon Force. Or more, since before she'd doubted that Dragon Force would have done much since any darkness based attacks would have been worn away by the sun either way.
Akeya's midnight scales were mixed with scales of gold, and her skin was a swirling mix of her original olive skin and a much paler alternative. Standing up she could feel that her leg was still heavily wounded as well as the rest of her body, but at least she had the strength to move in spite of that. When the solar charged her once more Akeya looked at him, then raised a claw and grabbed the sword, abruptly pulling it to the side while with her other claw she punched the monster attacking her eggs right in the face. Her punch held enough strength that the solar was sent flying backwards, leaving the sword in Akeya's hand. The dragoness looked at the sword, then opened her mouth and began to eat it. The feeling of eating light instead of darkness still felt sickening, as if she was eating an actual fever, but she also felt it boosting her strength immensely.
She wasn't sure what for price she'd pay for this later, but right now it was exactly what she needed for herself and her eggs to survive.
"WE WILL MAKE SURE YOU AND YOUR SPAWN WILL BE ERADICATED."
Instead of answering Akeya just shook her head, followed by her dashing forward. In a blink she was right in front of the solar, lashing out with one claw to rip off its robes to reveal its body of light and the gleaming armour it was wearing. When the solar tried to blast her with ray of light she ducked, then sweeped its legs out from underneath it. She followed this up by placing her hands on the ground and kicking herself up with her legs, spinning in the air before bringing her tail down onto the solar to smash it into the ground in a modified dropkick.
While the solar was still recovering from the slam (which had enough force behind it to bury the solar several inches into the red stone) Akeya sat down on top of it, grabbing its head and looking it in the... for lack of better word eyes.
"DO YOU THINK THIS WILL BE ACCEPTED BY THE REST OF THE WORLD?"
Akeya tilted her head to the side, then opened her mouth. Inhaling deeply the solar began to lose cohesiveness, the light that it was made of slowly being drawn into Akeya's mouth as she quite literally devoured the solar in its entirety. At the end the gleaming armour and the tattered fragments of the robes fell to the ground, the body of light they had been enshrouding having disappeared.
The dragoness stood up and walked back towards the nest, where she placed both clawed hands above the eggs. From one hand she let darkness emanate while the other emitted light, her one good wing shielding the eggs from the sun as she fed both light and dark, day and night, to the eggs. The wiggling had never stopped, and now quickly became stronger and stronger until the eggs began to crack, spiderwebs rapidly expanding across the strangely adorned eggshells. One egg, two eggs, three eggs... Akeya watched with unusually warm eyes as one by one the hatchlings finally broke free, clawing their way out of the eggs. They looked around, studied one another, then looked up at Akeya. Letting loose small rasping sounds they quickly climbed on top of her, climbing into her lap while Akeya signalled for Korikami to move the four of them into the safety of the shadow dimension.
She could already feel that the burst of strength she gained from eating the light was fading, but now that the three twilight dragons had hatched she could safely let Korikami return them to the guild. She'd also take the eggshells with her for safety's sake, but the equipment of the solar could be plundered by bandits for all she cared.
As the bright and scorching scenery of the desert was replaced by the dark shrine that was Korikami's inner realm Akeya looked at her claw. She studied how the scales of midnight and noon mixed, feeling like something important had changed. Maybe in her, maybe in the world. As her vision faded and she laid down to rest she covered the three hatchlings with her good wing, exhaling slowly.
She may indeed have gotten more from this task than she'd been expecting.
