It seemed like a normal mission, sneak into the palace and steal what was inside. Voltis and Zenhanna were the ones to go. They chose themselves for this mission as it just required a small group and they wanted more time to spend together. So, they were both heading off toward the palace that was positioned right on the edge of a cliff. The sheer drop could scare any dragon and the bottom not being visible made things worse. But first they had to get through the dense undergrowth till they reached the actual palace. Here is where Voltis and Zenhanna enjoyed each other. As they walked they brushed their wings together and Zen had yet more questions about their past life. Voltis was happy to share, recounting the events that made his heart soar, and the thought of getting to relive those times made his heart almost burst. In the middle of one of Voltis’s explanations a strange whirring noise reached their ears. Voltis stopped talking to listen, Zen looked confused at first but then heard the whirring. They stared around at the undergrowth side by side. The whirring got louder till something could be seen moving the brush around. It was heading straight towards them. Voltis and Zenhanna prepared for a fight, whatever it was it knew they were there. Soon as it was a few tail lengths away they got a good view of who it was, or rather what it was. A large blue with a tint of purple, swirling vortex on the ground it didn't stop moving toward them, plants and foliage around it rolled into its ever hungry hole and then coming back out the other side. Zenhanna and Voltis dodged out of its way and it switched direction instantly heading straight for Zen, he hopped back gliding over it. But it stayed straight under him. He tried to flap his wings but hit foliage and trees. There was nowhere to go and he fly away. Voltis was looking around for anything to help Zen. He dared not get too close otherwise he may get sucked down into the unseeable depths. But Zen couldn't stay up any longer and his wings faltered. He lost his height advantage over the strange vortex and disappeared into it. Voltis stared at the hole wide eyed as the last he saw of Zen was his talon grabbing the side of the ground before vanishing completely. As soon as Zen was gone and before Voltis could even try to jump into the hole as well. The swirl shot off into the undergrowth again growing more and more purple as it vanished the whirr of it fading with it. Voltis didn't hesitate to chase after it. Thorn bushes clawed at his scales giving him minor cuts but this did not stop him. He didn’t want to lose Zen again, he couldn't go through that pain again. The whirring still seemed to be outrunning him and soon was gone entirely. He continued on till he burst out of the tree line ending up in a sharp cut off of the grasses leading to dry dirt. He stopped skidding to a halt staring at the towering structure ahead of him. The palace seemed to be made of marble and was intricately laid that Voltis couldn’t tell how many levels were in it. All he knew is that somewhere in there was the portal that took Zen and he was going to find him and get him out.

The world was dark yet, light. The sky was black but the ground was lit up as if the sun was directly above him. Zen saw nothing with his eyes except for the forest he came out of, the foliage was a strange muted color. But he felt a presence and he knew with certainty that it was Voltis. It was like he could feel how he looked. He had an awed expression at something ahead of him. Zen looked in the same direction and only saw the edge of the cliff, that was until a loud rumbling sound occured. He saw what seemed like shapes growing out of the ground, but not solid 3D shapes, they were flat and formed off each other, designing unique forms and coming together to a peak at the top, then the entire form darkened and seemed to solidify. Zen was both amazed at what he just saw and confused, he didn't understand how this world worked. He felt Voltis taking flight to fly toward the palace that grew from shapes. Zenhanna followed spreading his wings and lifting off from the ground to make his way toward the towering structure. As they neared the palace Zenhanna saw something with his eyes, something that wasn't apart of the palace but rather something that moved on it's own. It was moving toward him and Voltis. But he didn't feel that Vol saw this thing, He saw it getting closer. It was some amalgamation of creatures with the ability of flight. It's wings were deformed and its body was overly muscular. It slowed as it started to near them, Zenhanna was wary of the creature unsure if it was hostile or not. He saw it raise it's large arms up before throwing itself forward and bringing it's arms down. He could feel pain but he didn't fall. The creature didn't hit him.

Voltis was uneasy something didn't feel right. And then he felt something large hit him in the back. He grunted as the air was knocked out of him and he was shot down toward the ground. He slammed into it the world vanishing instantly into darkness. Then he saw Zenhanna, he thought he was dreaming, he must be. Zenhanna was right there he looked worried then his head snapped up to look at something. He dashed back as a horrendous creature crashed into the ground the shockwave from it shaking the ground. Voltis couldn't move, he couldn't speak. He lay there watching as Zen fought the large creature. With how muscular and strong it looked it was very weak to Zen’s attacks, it's wings were taken out first. Shredded to ribbons, then Zen went for the legs and finally the throat. Striking with precision, the creature didn't bleed, but fell and dissipated into nothing once it's throat was slashed. Then Zen came over to him, his heart wanted to scream out to him, to talk with him. But Zen didn't seem to see him, but he knew he was there. He looked sad, almost crying, his legs shook as his body was wracked with violent and powerful emotions. And then he vanished and he saw the world again. Zen was nowhere to be seen. Voltis grunted as he pushed himself to his talons. His whole body was sore, the ground around him was cracked. He must have fell out of the sky, however the palace was directly ahead of him. He remembered what he saw and continued on, he was going to find Zenhanna and if he didn't he would die trying.

Zen was tired after the fight, and was on the ground curled up crying, when his mind finally opened back up after the flood of emotions he didn't feel Voltis there, he was somewhere else. This lit a flame in his mind, Voltis was still alive. Zenhanna got up quickly feeling around for him, he was already far ahead at the entrance to the palace. Zenhanna ran to catch up, he felt his body renewed that Voltis was still alive though part of him was still angry that he was still moving forward, he didn't know if he could fight another of those creatures. He slowed as he came near Voltis. Soothed now as he felt his presence. As they walked through the palace, it seemed random there was no order to it. They just walked the halls trying to find the portal. That was until they rounded a corner and three new creatures were in their path. Zenhanna stopped but Voltis kept going. The creatures were varying sizes. One being small and seemed to twitch a lot, it was the first to see them and took off toward them. The second was about as tall as Zenhanna, it let out an ear piercing screech before charging forward. The third was something that looked like a large centipede. It moved quickly going up the wall and onto the ceiling as it made it's way down the hall toward them. Zenhanna ran forward to stop them from hitting Voltis. But the smaller one already got to him, it chomped down on his arm and Zenhanna felt his pain, he felt him reel back flicking the smaller creature off. Zenhanna jumped forward slamming his talon down on it's head crushing it easily. But it was hollow. The next one to arrive was the one as tall as Zenhanna, he saw its body shift and change before it suddenly looked like him. Zenhanna stared at it before he dashed toward it tackling it to the ground. He wrestled with it trying to go for its neck but was knocked off as the large centipede hit him. It crawled up the wall before coming back down for another strike at him. Zenhanna leapt out of it's way using his tail to smack his mirror self before turning to look back toward the centipede which was heading for Voltis who felt very confused. Zenhanna started running for him but fell as the other creature grabbed his back leg. He kicked at it, which landed square on it's face. He then scrambled to get up but the centipede already got to Voltis, wrapping around him and growing tighter and tighter. Alarm and panic filled Voltis and Zenhanna mirrored the feeling. He threw himself at the centipede slashing at it's vulnerable underside. It let out a scream of pain before disappearing, he heard the other creature let out another shriek. But he felt Voltis on the ground getting back up gasping for air. Zenhanna turned back around to face himself again, but they seemed to have grown double in size. He almost didn't dodge the first attack from it. He ran under it slashing at it's underbelly. It reared back and slammed it's front talons onto the ground causing the entire palace to shake. Zenhanna held tight but was caught off guard and was thrown into the wall by one single swipe of the creatures talons. He fell to the ground as a singe of pain went through his body he brought himself back up in time to see the creature coming for him. He jumped backward just dodging the attack from the creature, he took this chance to dash forward and dig his claws into the beasts neck. As it let out a roar of pain he felt everything around him vibrate from the sound. Zen pulled his talons back as the creature collapsed and faded away. There was then nothing to hint that there was a fight here. Voltis was already continuing on cautiously he knew something was up but he still continued on. Zen wished he wasn't so brave and foolish. If he had just left then Zen knew he would be safe. But now he had to keep Voltis alive. Till they found the portal, he went to follow Voltis again. They continued walking for quite some time without encountering any other creatures. They were high up in the palace now, and by now they had an idea of where the portal was that brought Zen to this world. It was on the last flight of stairs up that they encountered one more creature. This one was like the one before that looked like Zenhanna, but this one looked exactly like Voltis, it mirrored his scale color too. Zenhanna froze when he first saw it. He could feel Voltis’s presence moving up toward himself in this world. Zen had a split second to decide which was real, the Voltis standing in front of him now or the one he felt on the other side. He knew which was right but he still wanted to hug the being that resembled Voltis in front of him now. That was till the creature used it's shoulder to throw the real Voltis back down the stairs. Zenhanna was pulled out of his thoughts now and charged up the stairs leaping at the fake Voltis who snarled at him. A part of him wanted to not fight him, he didn't want to hurt Voltis, but he knew this wasn't the real Voltis. This was a creature that was trying to play with his mind. He rolled over with the creature but lost the tussle as the creature clamped it's jaws down on his right arm. He felt teeth sink into his flesh past his scales. He let out a shocked scream, he hadn’t expected such strength from this beast. He kicked wildly landing a blow in the creatures stomach. It fell over off of him allowing Zen to get back up, the real Voltis was making his way up the stairs again while the fake one was shaking the pain off then charging at Zenhanna. Zen dashed to the side, the creature stopped quickly and leapt toward him landing a hit. Zen was back on the ground tussling with the creature. He tried to get the creature off, he knew he couldn't win when this close. He managed to separate himself, he jumped back before dashing forward and got a good slash on the creatures side. It reeled back in pain giving a wild throw of it's talons which just grazed Zen’s wings. Zen ducked back and went in once more. The creature reared back and brought it's talons down to strike Zen in the head, but he expected that. He slipped to the side and went straight for the throat, his jaws clamped around the fake Voltis. He felt the creature choke, the life of it escaping its body. He let go and the creature fell to the floor. Voltis’s face was there on the ground, dead. The creature didn't vanish as the others did, so Zen was left there with a creature that did not bleed but looked exactly like Voltis. Zenhanna felt crushed, he just killed Voltis. He reached out his talon to touch Voltis’s scales, as soon as he did the thing was gone as if it didn't exist. Zen crumpled to the ground shaking, he wanted to go back, this was too much for him. He couldn't stand this place it put him through so much pain. From the gashes on his arm to the scratches and bruises all over his body. This place was a death trap. The only thing that brought him back was the feeling of Voltis passing him, he opened his eyes. There was a hard time distinguishing this world and the place when he closed his eyes. His mind felt around and found Vol going up the stairs almost to the top, he was limping but he was alright. Zen got up his legs were weak and he didn't want to go on but he knew that soon they would reach their destination. He climbed the stairs passing Voltis and reaching a large room, in the middle of it the portal was there, it had turned purple. Zen stared at it for a couple seconds before he walked toward it.

Here it was, the portal. The thing that took Zen away from him, he walked toward it, ready to enter it and find Zen. That was until Zen himself was tossed out of it and thrown into him. They fell over onto the ground, at first Voltis didn't know who it was but when he looked again he recognized Zen’s face. He couldn't help but let his emotions and heart take over “Zen!” He exclaimed hugging Zen who lay on his back. “I thought I lost you again” He confessed holding Zen tightly, Zen hugged back. They stayed there for some time lost in their emotions of being reunited, Zen was glad to see his scales again and feel his touch, he now had something he could touch and feel rather than know was there with his mind. While Voltis was overloaded with pure happiness. When he pulled back he said “Now that you are saved lets get out of here” He smiled softly at Zen.

“I saved myself and you, you do not know what I had to defeat to keep you alive.” Zen said, he stood up and Voltis finally saw the wounds on his body, the large holes from the bite, and the bruises and scratches that littered his body. Voltis stepped forward a bit concerned.

“So, you were stopping whatever happened to me earlier?” Voltis asked and Zen nodded, he remembered the strange bite that appeared on his arm and when he was thrown down the steps. He never saw what it was that attacked him but it only happened once so he guessed Zen had kept him safe somehow. He hugged him again “Thank you” He said before they started walking out of the palace together.

-----------------------

I will most likely be writing more short stories which I may just create a book filled with them. But till then there's this one.