Fire in Darkness

[Somebody]

Good story, I like how its comming along keep it up.

[Vince the Dark]

Thanks again for the comments guys, really appreciate it. And I'm glad that you find it interesting. Here's chapters eight and nine.

Chapter Eight: A cry from the distance

Flames was still going as the sun rose up in the distance, shedding it's light and banishing the darkness of the night. Fay had been following Flames through the night, but was keeping  some distance as not to upset Flames again with doing something hasty or stupid ending with him having his throat cut open.
As they came to a huge cliff, Flames made a stop at the edge, looking over the landscape that didn't seem to have an end. Fay made his way beside Flames so that he could see it too, as there was a soft wind going through the air as the sun rose from behind the distant mountains.
The husky sat down, admiring the beautiful sunrise and stretching out his arms as he let out a yawn. It had been a long night, yet Flames didn't seem the least bit tired. It confused Fay. No one should be able to go without sleep and not be the least bit tired.
He looked towards Flames, seeing his emotionless face and simply letting out a sigh.
The lack of sleep was getting to him, but the husky didn't want to be left behind, so he had simply kept going through the night, keeping up with Flames' pace.
Flames felt the wind against his fur as he stood on the cliff, looking down at the small villages in the distance, wondering where to next. He then made a sudden turn towards Fay, looking at him sitting as he spoke. “You wouldn't happen to know anything about someone who goes by the name 'Malakar', would you?”
Fay thought about Flames' sudden question for a while. “Hmm... I'm not quite sure... You  wouldn't be meaning The 'Malakar'?
But before either had time to say anything more, there was a scream that echoed through the otherwise silent morning. Both anthros gave each other a quick glance, and Flames was the first one to move to the edge of the cliff, there the sounds had apparently came from , with a couple of nimble movements. He looked down the cliff, but was unable to see what was going on down there.
Fay had also made his way to the edge by now, and was peering down the large cliff, trying to see something. “Can you see anything?” He then asked Flames, having tried to see something for a while.
Flames ignored Fay's question, and didn't even turn towards him as he spoke in a calm tone. “I'm going down...”
“You're doing WHAT?!” The husky burst out. But before he had a chance to say anything else, Flames had already jumped over the edge, running down the side of the cliff. Fay let out a sigh and shouted over the edge as he looked at Flames go. “You sure are making this hard for me huh, Flames?”
With that, he started to walk down the fastest trail down the cliff, not being in the mood for all the theatrics.

Chapter Nine: An inner battle

The entity had regained control of Vince's body a little while after Flames had run away from the town, escaping from the turmoil.
The dark character living as a parasite inside Vince was boiling by now, going into a fit of rage and madly slashing the burnt remains of houses and other things that were left standing by the fire.
This was getting personal to him by now, and was fed up with Vince interrupting everything when he was supposed to be in control over the body. He decided to go face to face with his host on this one, because he had had enough of this pesky dragon intervening with his plans.
Vince was locked up inside the darkness of his own mind, but somehow Flames had managed to break that seal for a moment, allowing him to regain control over his body and and get him to run away, instead of meeting his demise by the hands of something that wasn't even supposed to be there.
Vince looked up as something started to materialize beside him, looking at the dark entity take a serpentine form beside him.
“Looks like I really upset him this time... He's never come here before.” Vince thought to himself, smirking at the thought.
As the serpentine being had finished taking it's form, it lunged straight ahead at Vince, punching him hard in the face. “You idiot!” He hissed
Vince was slightly thrown aback by the punch, staggering slightly backwards and softly touching his now sore cheek. “Oww!... What was that for?”
“You know why, you pesky dragon!” The snake hissed, clear anger in his voice. “You let him get away!”
Vince grinned. “So? He is my brother after all.” He now went for the serpent, but as he tried to punch him, he simply went through the entity as if he was a hologram.
The entity crossed its arms and looked towards the dragon. “You still have much to learn. That's why you're so easy to control.” He smirked giving a content smile.
Turning back towards the entity, Vince let out a snarl. “What are you doing here anyway? It's not like you're supposed to be here.”
The entity let out a hissing sound before speaking. “Because we want to use your power. Nourish it and control it. Plus you could have become a major nuisance if we hadn't intervened.”
“Son of a...!” Vince went rushing towards the entity again, but much to his surprise, his blow actually connected this time, sending the serpent flying a short distance before crashing down on the ground.
The dragon looked amazed at his paw after hitting the entity. He had done it, he had really done it!
The entity cursed under his breath, he hadn't expected the dragon to be able to be this powerful... The anger must have made him able to connect the hit, so he had to get the dragon chained up before things took a change for worse, for him that was.
As Vince was readying for another blow at the entity, chains started coming out of the walls, chaining down the dragon before he had a chance to fight back.
The entity let out a pleased smile.”Now that that's done, I think I'm off to have fun with your body again.” With that he gave an evil grin and turned away, preparing to leave the dragons subconsciousness.
“What?! You can't leave me here like this!” Vince tried to struggle free from the chains. “Come back here you insolent pile of scales!”
The entity made a sudden stop, hearing the dragons words echo back and forth, and turned around. “What did you just say?” He was now moving back towards Vince.
“I said...” But instead of continuing the sentence, Vince spat out flames towards the entity.
The entity jumped back, avoiding being burnt by the flame be mere inches, but still feeling the heat of a raging inferno in front of him. “Sneaky aren't we?” He grinned again. “Stay there.”
Vince could nothing but look as the entity vanished and took over the control of his body again, not even daring to imagine what he would do now.
When the entity had taken over control of Vince's body, he started making his way out of the embers that remained from the town, taking flight after a short walk.
He had to find Flames again, but he had gotten half a days head start so I it wouldn't be finding him again. Because if he didn't bring the anthro's head to Malakar, he would have his own head along with this dragons on a plate instead.
He tried not to think about it as he continued to fly over forests and fields, trying to locate Flames once again.

[flames]

 :sparkle: As I said in my PM, brilliant work brother, just brilliant! The story is keeping me hooked, the whole inner struggle between Vince and the parasite that had took over his body had me on the edge of my seat and your depiction of Flames is highly accurate. Truly, you make me proud.

[Wulf064]

 :sparkle: As I said in my PM, brilliant work brother, just brilliant! The story is keeping me hooked, the whole inner struggle between Vince and the parasite that had took over his body had me on the edge of my seat and your depiction of Flames is highly accurate. Truly, you make me proud.

I agree with flames awsome

[Vince the Dark]

Thanks again for the comments, they are very appreciated. And I finally finished chapter ten, although I'm not completely satisfied how it came out, but still... Hope you like it.

Chapter Ten: Friends or foes?

Flames wondered what awaited him as he run down the side of the cliff. He drew out the X-sabre as he went, now prepared for anything that might await him as he came closer to the ground. He then jumped before reaching the ground, making a neat turn before landing on his hind legs, only sounding a faint thump as he landed.
He now looked at a huge cave that went into the mountain. It had to be more than 25ft tall, because it looked like it could fit a full-blooded dragon inside it. Not that Flames ever had seen a full-blood dragon, but he had heard many stories about them.
From what Flames had heard, the full-blood dragons had diminished in drastic numbers as of late. Most had suddenly just disappeared without leaving a trace. But there were still some known to be found, scattered around the world as they tried to save their own race from extinction.
Flames wondered if there was a dragon living in his cave, or if there only had been one, because full-blood dragons were much more powerful than anthro dragons, outmatching them in both brute strength and cunning.
As Flames wondered on this, another scream sounded through the otherwise silent morning.
Flames was now certain where the scream had came from: Somewhere deep inside the cavern.
As he looked towards the trail leading down the mountain, he saw Fay rushing down and not taking much time before he was standing beside the Flames, looking at him after looking at the cave entrance. “We going in there?”
“So it seems.” Flames replied as emotionless as ever, looking steadily ahead. “If there is someone in there needing help, then it is our duty to protect that person. There is nothing more to it.”
Fay sighed, but as he was drawing out his sword, something caught his eye inside the cave. He took away his paw from the hilt of his sword peering inside the cave to see what it was that had caught his eye. The husky's eyes widened as he saw what was coming straight at them from inside the cave. He quickly pushed Flames to the side, landing on top of him just as a huge burst of flame made its way out of the cave, taking a while before making a stop.
Fay let out a sigh. “Phew... That was close.”
“That it was, but now get off me.” Flames voice had turned serious again as he pushed the husky off of him.
“Oh... right... Sorry.” Fay got up and dusted himself off.
Flames grunted as he got up, also dusting off, and gave a look towards Fay. “You should be glad that the X-sabre didn't pierce you as you knocked me over.”
The husky went slightly pale at Flames words, now thinking about the scenario as he looked at the X-sabre. “Gulp...”
After gathering himself again, Fay turned towards the cave entrance, taking a good look inside before going on in case of another sudden burst of fire. “You coming?” He then said towards Flames.
“You're in a hurry now? What made you change your mind?” Flames said with a hint of irony on his voice.
“Hmph... I'm just not as keen as you on burning my fur off, thank you very much for asking.” Fay had started walking into the cave as he spoke, while still being on his guard as he moved.
Flames followed amusedly the husky as he followed into the cave, thinking about every possible escape route as he walked, but not showing any of his deep pondering upon his face.
As they ventured deeper into the cave, they came to a huge chamber. Amazed by the sheer size of it, both anthros took a while to look around, and as their eyes reached the center of the chamber, they saw the huge dragon that seemed distracted with something and didn't notice the two coming.
Fay looked amazed at the grey full-blood dragon. “Whoah... I thought they all vanished.”
“Almost. There has been a couple of siting but not many.” Flames corrected. “Now let's see what's going on here, shall we?”
As they walked closer, they could see a figure slashing away at the dragon, trying to get it's sword to cut through the hard scales of the dragon. And with closer inspection to the figure, they managed to identify it as a female anthro wolf.
“Why do you persist to continue this futility.” The dragon roared at the wolf.
“Because... I was ordered to...” The wolf gasped, feeling tired from trying to evade the mighty dragons shard claws and fiery breath, while attacking it at the same time.
The dragon finally caught the wolf in his huge paws, holding her with a firm grip. “I'm tired of Malakar sending his troops here to try to get rid of me! Why does he so badly want me gone anyway?”
“You're... asking... the wrong... person...”  The wolf was noticeably out of breath by now, and also having hard to breath because of the dragons tight grasp on her.
The dragon snorted and threw the wolf aside, snarling. “Leave!”
The wolf landed just in front of Flames and Fay, getting a glimpse of hope in her eyes as she saw the two and got up. She made her way to Fay, being the nearest one to her. “Well well well... You guys can surely take it from here.” She spoke in a very seductive tone, trying to get them to go against the dragon instead as she moved her fingers over Fay's chest.
Fay eeped as the wolf put her fingers on his chest and quickly made a retreat behind Flames, looking back at her angrily over Flames' shoulder while growling. “Get her Flames.” Fay said, looking at the female angrily. “Take her down while she's weak!”
Flames looked amusedly at Fay standing behind him before starting to walk forward, past the female anthro and towards the huge dragon.
As he came closer, Flames approached the dragon cautiously keeping his guard up if the dragon decided to attack. “I apologize for simply bursting into your den, great dragon, but I couldn't help but overhear that you seem to be having some problems with a dragon  called Malakar.”
The dragon turned around as he heard Flames words to see who had spoken to him, showing his sharp teeth towards the anthro, giving out a very intimidating look. “Eh?... What's it to you, fox?”
Flames took a step closer before speaking. “I suggest and alliance, because we seem to have the same enemy, Malakar.”
Fay had made his way beside Flames, and wasn't all that comfortable with the ida of an alliance. “Um Flames... Do you think this is wise?”
Flames ignored the question and quickly grabbed the husky's muzzle before he could say anything more and to keep it shut. “Quiet!” He growled without even looking towards Fay.
The dragon thought about it for a moment before deciding. “Very well then. But only until we defeat Malakar.”
“Good. Then it's decided.” Flames said, and kept a small pause to think. “Ah yes, we haven't been properly introduced yet. I am Hokaze no Flames, but you may call me just Flames, and the husky is Fay.” Flames made a motion towards Fay who was standing beside him.
“It's nice to meet you both of you.” The dragon answered. “I'm Ravuscale.”
Flames then went on to ask a question. “Do you know where Malakar is located by any chance?”
“He's located far away from here. In the deepest heart of the dark lands.”
Everyone turned towards the exit of the den as they heard a voice echoing through the place. The voice was arrogant, yet somewhat familiar to Flames. “Not that you'll ever get there alive.”
“Who...?” Flames started to say, but before he could finish an anthro dragon had stepped out of the shadows. Flames could only make himself utter one word as the saw who it was. “Brother...”

There is a bit that I had to leave out at the end, because of the nature of the last part of the chapter, just so that people know what happened without going further into detail is, that Vince killed the wolf. I can of course send the bit to anyone who wants to read it, just can't put it up because of it being a bit violent.
And as a note in the end, comment all you who read it! I want to know what you think about it.

[flames]

Brilliant as always brother. Fay's reaction to the female wolf made me smile, as did the dialouge between Flames and Ravuscale. You continue to write the characters quite well, especially Flames. All of his behaviour perfectly fits in with his character and his experiences in this story. The contrast between now and the first two chapters really shows the development of both the characters and plot.
(Good idea about removing the violent part. Perhaps I should have done that or something similar in the past with many pieces of writing I've posted which may not be 100% suitable for the site)

[Wulf064]

Send the rest to me I wanna read ^^. and you have my ego to a t *chuckels* Good job!

[Vince the Dark]

I'm glad that I've been able to portray the characters so well. Thanks guys. ^.^
Here's some more to read.

Chapter Eleven: End of hope...Or beginning of a new one?

All three looked at Vince as the wolf fell down to the ground, everyone filled with different emotions about what they had just seen.
Ravus was boiling with rage at this point from seeing what the anthro dragon had just done. “Why?!” He shouted out at Vince. “Why did you have to kill her, she'd done nothing wrong to you!”
Flames turned towards the large dragon, amazed at his words. Although being fierce, the dragon was now showing a soft and caring side to of himself, although he hadn't known the wolf.
Vince smirked as he looked at the dragon. “She'd served her purpose through her failure. There's nothing more to it.”
Ravus let out a roar as he couldn't keep himself calm any longer. He rushed towards the anthro dragon with all his power, readying his fiery breath.
Flames didn't have the chance to stop Ravus as he went past him, only having the time to say the word 'no' as he feared for what was about to happen. He tried to quickly think of some way to avoid what was about to happen, but found no possible solution that he could think of. And to his horror he saw that Ravus was readying to shoot fire at Vince.
Flames couldn't just stand and watch his brother be burned alive, so he started running towards the two, just as Ravus got to Vince and managed in knocking him off balance.
But as Flames ran, he soon felt something stopping him and not letting go. As he turned to look what it was, he saw Fay holding on to him so that he couldn't move any further.
“No! Let go of me!” Flames cried out. “I have to do something! I can't just stand here and watch my brother be burnt alive!”
Fay continued holding on to Flames, not letting go as Flames struggled to get loose. “I'm sorry...” Fay said into the fox's ear and tightened his grip.
The dragon had caught Vince off guard, making him lose hos balance and as he tried to get back up again, he saw the mighty dragons maw open up in front him, a faint red glow coming out from somewhere deep inside of it. His eyes grew wide as the entity figured out what was about to happen. “Crud...”
Vince got back up on his feet just as a burst of flames came out of Ravus' maw, engulfing him inside the fire.
Flames' struggling became fainter as he saw his brother being consumed by the flames. “NO!...” He fell down on his knees as Fay let go of him, tears starting to run down his cheeks as he looked into the fire coming out of Ravus' maw.
Flames' whole world started to fall apart around him, and the only thought running through his mind being; “He's gone... His brother was gone...”
Fay looked saddened at Flames, sitting down beside him as he looked towards Ravus. “I think that's enough...” He wanted to show Flames but didn't know how to put it, so he went with giving him a hug, not knowing of anything else to do. “I really am sorry Flames... But it had to be do... WHAT!?”
As Ravus had stopped breathing fire, both he and Fay looked shocked towards the point
where Vince had stood before. And to their amazement, he still was. Not a single mark from the flames on his scales, but very exhausted and only barely standing.
Flames looked up, wondering why Fay had suddenly shouted out in amazement. He wiped away the tears to be able to see clearly before looking towards Fay, then Ravus, before turning his head to what they were looking at.
He couldn't believe his eyes as he saw Vince standing in front of Ravus, even though he should have been burnt to ashes by now. “B-Brother...?”
The dragon looked exhausted towards Flames. “N-Nii-san...?” Then everything went black in his eyes and Vince collapsed to the ground.
As soon as Flames had heard Vince speak, he was sure that his brother was back again.
He jumped up on his feet again and rushed over to his now unconscious brother as Fay and Ravus stood by and watched them.

[flames]

As always, the chapter is an enjoyable read and leaves me craving more. The depiction of Flames is this scene was, once again, masterfully done. I salute you, brother.

[Wulf064]

Nice thats freakin awsome

[Vince the Dark]

Chapter Twelve: Nightly pacts

Vince woke up beside the warmth of a fire, warming the bunch of furs sleeping around it  although the fire was growing weaker by now. The last of the embers were still glowing and a small fire could also be seen in his eyes, symbolizing the burning fire inside of him.
The dragon looked over at the others who were asleep, and then settled his eyes on his dear brother, Flames, noticing that he was sleeping somewhat restlessly. Vince tried to stand up, to see how much strength he had left in him for the time being, and got up after a while of trying. He then made his way besides Flames, softly stroking his brothers head before heading off to find some more wood to keep the fire going.
As he walked into the dark forest, away from the fire shedding its light into the dark of night, Vince's steps grew heavier by the minute to the point where he fell down to his knees. His eyes started to flicker, the color switching from red to black, and then going back again, not being able to decide on where to stop.
The dragon punched his fist hard into the ground as he tried to stay in control, but then, the color of his eyes finally stopped, one staying it's normal fiery red, the other turning to pitch black.
“Did you think I'd go down that easily?” Vince heard himself say, although he knew he hadn't said it, not wanting to believe what his mind was telling him. “Interesting reaction we have here, isn't it? From one in control to both..”
Vince tried to think of a way out of the situation, wondering if he could warn his brother before the entity did anything.
“Ohh? Trying to warn your brother now, are we?” The entity said, now being able to read the dragons ming because of the combined control of the body.
“Darn...” Vince muttered. “But that means I can read yours too.” He then said with a glimpse of hope in his voice.
“You think so? We'll see about that... So be a good dragon now and lets walk back to camp.”
“Why?! So that you could kill Flames right when you get the chance?” Vince was practically shouting now, cursing his lack of power to not have been able to stop all this from happening.
The entity sighed. “I'll make a deal with you... And I can't even believe I'm saying this... I won't harm Flames, if you finish off Malakar. Although that in itself is as good as suicide.”
Vince listened to the entity's proposal, letting out a sigh afterwards. “What choice do I have? But you have to promise you won't touch Flames. And what's your business with Malakar anyway?”
It took a while before the entity said anything, making it obvious that he was thinking of some way to put it before finally saying anything. “Let's just say that he won't be all that pleased with me for not being able to keep you in control, and most likely wants my head on a plate anyways for failing so many times by now...”
“I guess that's valid enough... Shall we go back to the others then?” Vince then tried to move his legs forwards, trying to head back towards the camp and the others, seeing that the entity wasn't resisting.
As they came back to the fire Vince put some more logs into the fire and sat down beside it, enjoying the warmth a bit before laying back down again and going back to sleep, unsure of what the next day would bring with it, and hoping that the entity would keep his promise about not hurting Flames.

[flames]

(Plot twist!) That was a brilliant chapter and was totally unexpected. It was definately well worth the wait.

[Vince the Dark]

Glad you liked it brother. ^^ There'll be more where that came from.

[Wulf064]

Sweet keep it up

[Vince the Dark]

This is a guest chapter written by Flames, so the style of the writing is different from mine, but I hope you guys like it as much as I do.

Chapter Thirteen: Dreams of Hope

Flames stirred ever so slightly as Vince and the entity returned, but he remained asleep with an oddly peaceful expression on his face, even his breathing as silent as the dark night outside. Had it not been for the steady rise and fall of his chest Vince would have swore that his brother was dead. Disturbed by that thought, the dragon couldn’t help but wonder as to whether the entity could really be trusted and what had happened to his brother these past few years.

Meanwhile, within the depths of his brother’s mind, a whirlpool of emotion was spiralling wildly in direct contrast to the fiery anthro’s exterior. And there, in the midst of it all was Flames himself, deep in thought. He knew he was dreaming and so was using this time wisely to reflect on what had happened not only today, but also on everything that had happened since his brother’s disappearance.

His training had been harsh, his heart fragile and in agony. It had been very trying on him, but he had kept a little light within the darkness of his despair, a shred of hope…and somehow he managed to go on; day after day of brutal, body numbing, mind shattering, heart wrenching pain. Flames never gave up. It was with this attitude he started his search for his brother and it was with this raw determination that he swore there and then to protect his brother from the darkness that had tried to enslave him at whatever the cost.

Believing at last that his brother would be okay when he woke up, Flames kept a tight hold onto his hope and drifted into peaceful sleep…