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But my friends had sacrificed too much for me to make it this far.
Vern was still waiting for me and I had an idea to save him from losing his life. Losing the love of his life and his wyvern in one fell swoop. Losing everything.
Killian and Solstice were out there fighting Wild Dragons for me.
And an unborn Lost Dragon Queen desperately struggled with the instinct to break out of her shell and the need to protect herself from the corruption waiting to infect her.
She knew it was dangerous, but she was slowly losing the struggle to remain in her shell. She should have already broken free by now, but it was because of my encouragement that she managed to resist the urge to claw her way out.
Just a bit longer, little one, I said to her, not sure if she could hear me.
But I needed to remember why I was doing this, or else I feared the darkness around my vision would close in and swallow me whole.
When I reached what felt like the top of the spire, I realized with a sinking sense of dream that it wasn’t a mountain or mass of land at all.
It was corruption.
And at the top a being held the egg to his chest. It was the shape of a man, but everything about the angles and shape of him was wrong.
His skin shimmered with black as if he were made of midnight marble. He closed himself around the egg, barely allowing me to see the fine scales of the outer edges that already had chips in it.
His fingers extended into sharp claws as he embraced the object in a motionless gesture of possession.
I screamed as the shadows shifted, nearly sending me toppling off the side of the mass of corruption.
“Niece!” an ethereal voice shouted, and I crouched before I fell.
The billow shadow-form of my uncle appeared, making me raise an eyebrow.
“Bastion?” I asked.
He nodded, his expression grave. “I’m sorry that I didn’t warn you…”
His voice drifted off as he looked back at the marble statue.
My heart jolted when the statue flinched.
“Didn’t warn me about what?” I asked as I drew my thin blade. I wasn’t sure what a blade would do against some corrupted marble creature, but I hadn’t brought a hammer.
Bastion moved closer and his form seemed to blend with the shadows around us. “That thing is me, Vivienne. My body, anyway. Corruption has taken hold of it and will use it as a puppet. The impact drew my spirit out of Purgatory, but I’m afraid I can’t last long like this.”
My eyes rounded as I realized what he meant. The edges of him flicked in and out like a candle about to lose its flame.
I lowered my blade and reached out for him, but my fingers passed straight through his forearm, leaving me chilled. “Can I do anything to help you?”
He shook his head, which only managed to make the fine locks of his hair dissipate before they reformed. “I’m not important. It’s the Lost Dragon Queen that you must save. Please, Vivienne. Before it’s too late.”
I frowned, not liking that answer.
Why did everyone seem intent on sacrificing themselves lately?
“My mother would never forgive me if I let anything happen to you,” I told him, then I did something that might be considered reckless.
I took the hilt of my blade, then stepped into my uncle’s shadow.
A chill swept over me as my skin tingled.
“What are you doing?” he asked, but I didn’t answer.
