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Part Four: Friendship
Hovering high above the Armageddon of the dragons' rage was a bundle of several layers of blue and black cloaks, out of which a hand extended, holding a wizard's staff. His hoods were drawn back, revealing long, brown hair. Appearing human, the expression of awe and sorrow on his face made him seem otherwise. He watched Calcifer's spiritual body call out to Silverheart in the flaming darkness. How sad, how incredibly tragic, to have to endure such pain. I remember the days when I endured pain such as that.
An angel of pure light and beauty sped to his side amid the darkness that permeated the border of the pillar of light.
"Wales! What the devil are you doing floating right here? We must rescue Silverheart!"
The wizard's empty black abysses, which passed for eyes, stared back at her sorrowfully.
"I cannot sense him, nor can I sense the new body of Calcifer. This cataclysm has disrupted my powers, as has this darkness."
The angel slapped him across the face, hard, and with a dissatisfied sigh, sped around the pillar of light, making an aerial search of the blasted land.
The one called Wales then zoomed down to the injured and severely burned Calcifer and said nothing as he leaned on his staff, over Calcifer’s body with an expression of pure sorrow and utter pity.
Sensing an entity more powerful than himself in his current state, Calcifer glanced around, only to find something which he could best describe as a walking cloak salesman. Of course, he did not have the customary sales pitch, but merely regarded Calcifer silently. Growling at the human, he continued looking around for Silverheart, stumbling across rocks and debris, his burnt scales and various injuries sending throbbing pain running through him.
"If you're here only for the amusement factor, get lost."
Dredging up a fragment of power that remained to him, his strength used up mainly to separate himself into two much earlier, he sent out a glowing cerulean probe for Silverheart. However, it merely hovered uncertainly before him, causing Calcifer to sigh sadly and reabsorb the probe.
- - -
The hybrid hovered about, spectral form faint in the darkness. His attack had gone awry, his carefully laid plans shattered, all thanks for that dragon. He will pay for it. Unlike Calcifer however, he had his full resources available to him. With no uncertain amount of confidence, he zoomed away, towards his target and victim: Silverheart. He knew where the dragon was, his psionic powers granting him a mental map of the blasted lands, and its occupants.
- - -
The wizard spoke to the fumbling white dragon in a most saddened tone, "Have you considered the possibility that he might not have survived, Calcifer Rauth, Planesmaster of the Ages?"
Snarling, he rounded upon the wizard, rage flashing through his eyes. Every fibre of his being called out for him to rend the upstart's soul from his corporeal form, but he was not strong enough to do so, not like this. Besides, he was not sure he would even succeed. The wizard would pose a difficult match for him, even in his prime.
"Until he tells me that in person, I won't believe it."
His fury was fully stoked now, first by the half-demon, and now by the cloak salesman; and now he could barely control it. With a roar of anguish, he slammed his claws down onto the ground, splitting the solid bedrock beneath. The wizard levitated mere inches above the splitting ground, though his expression of sadness did not change. His staff, topped with a green gemstone, began to glow a bright emerald green.
"If you do not believe it, then you must prove it to yourself."
The empty eyes blinked once, as if in awakening from a dream.
"Your anger must be directed at your opponent, Calcifer Rauth of the ancient ones. I am not your enemy."
Wales reached up and touched the stinging place on his face where Merewen had hit him. He blushed, and a tear rolled down his cheek in plain sight.
"I will prove to you how it is I am also his friend."
The staff glowed as bright as the sun for a moment, then the light faded from the stone completely. Reaching out, he touched Calcifer's burnt scales with his cold hands, before wave of power rushed through the dragon, flowing into every fibre of his being. The wizard closed his eyes, and spoke softly.
"I have granted you the mental capacity you once held in your old body. As I am a planeswalker, I can imbue others with the spark of planar energy, yet I cannot awaken your natural abilities. You must do that on your own."
Suddenly, Wales reopened his eyes and jerked his head towards the other side of the explosion crater.
"Our friend is in trouble - and you must go to him, Calcifer."
With that, the many-layered planeswalker faded from sight, as though he stepped away from the visible spectrum and turned invisible.
The currents were now open to him, the flow of the planar energy readily accessible. Inclining his head to where he had last seen the planeswalker, he spread his wings, letting the planar energy fill him. Injuries healed over, wounds repaired as it rejuvenated him. His rage burned within him, hot and angry. Turning to where Wales had indicated, he shifted, leaving nothing more than disturbed dust where he had been a moment before.
- - -
"Hello Silverheart. I think it's time we settle this... little grudge once and for all."
Hovering above the dragon, he smirked, bolts of manifested psychic energy pulsing in readiness. Only just arriving, he was ecstatic to find Silverheart alone, not that he had expected anything else. Calcifer was too busy searching at the wrong place, leaving Silverheart all to him. Without any further ado, he released the deadly attack, ready to celebrate the dragon's death, and the completion of his revenge on the plan-wrecker. However, his rising joy was cut short as they hit something else: a thin invisible barrier that glowed cerulean for a second before fading.
"Don't touch him, half-blood."
Glancing back at Silverheart, he made sure that the healer was okay before allowing the full, and proper, manifestation of the Planesmaster take over. His scales lengthened, shifting from their original rounded edges to sharp spiked ones. His wings spread out wide, white feathers gleaming bright silver. His scales, however, gleamed in the full spectrum of the rainbow. Glaring down at the demon, his full rage apparent, he dared the hybrid to do anything.
- - -
From above, Wales and the angel watched the dragon reveal himself before the spectral half-demon. Leaning on his staff, the planeswalker watched with a blank expression, taking the opportunity to analyze how strong Calcifer was in this state, for no one knew when information like this would come in useful, but failed when the numbers became too much for even his mind. He shook off the notion, instead electing to watch, as he always did. The angel spoke then.
"Why didn't you tell me, Wales? We could have solved this problem without his help."
The cloak salesman chuckled.
"Because Silverheart intended for the relationship to be maintained. Excluding Calcifer from the equation would send the message that we had no desire to count him in."
"But-"
"BUT," Wales cut in, "Calcifer is the only one who is proficient enough at fighting the likes of that. I am a mere parlour magician, Merewen, remember?"
Merewen snorted loudly.
"Silence, fool. You dare throw my own words back at me? If this situation is under control, as you say, you needn't bother me any more with your commentary."
Planeswalkers, no allegiance at all… thought the angel to herself as she kept her eyes protectively on Silverheart.
- - -
The hybrid decided to make a break for it, and nearly succeeded. However, like a cat controlling a tiny mouse within its paws, Calcifer seemed willing to toy with the half-demon, letting him run about. Always thinking he was going to be free this time, then Calcifer would be there, pouncing upon him from the sides, or once, from the front. Psychic bolts seemed extremely ineffective, Calcifer shrugging them off easily in his current avatar-form. The only driving force behind the dragon was revenge and that would be exacted in full.
Within the demon's mind, just when he was ready to give up, a thought wormed its way in: Mind control is one of your specialties. I wonder how fun it is. Trembling as soon as it completed, for he guessed its full implications, he found his claws rising to his own face and with a scream, they gouged out his own eyes. Collapsing into a weeping heap, the ruined creature's despair was one that would have moved many.
However, Calcifer merely stood off to one side, grinning. How does it feel, half-blood? He let it wallow about in anguish before allowing a bolt of lightning, pure white in its brightness, to streak across it, ending its misery instantly and leaving no trace of its existence. Turning to look upwards, to the bright heavens, his lips curled in a feral grin. A ring of energy blasted out around him, covering the entire area, restoring what had been, and what would probably always remain as long as he was around.
Looking to Silverheart, he grinned faintly, returning to his normal form with a healing spell clasped in his claws.
"You all right?"
Silverheart's eyes were weak and barely open. His body was, before Calcifer's healing process, crippled and torn. Narrowly escaping from a dozen flaming meteors, an exploding lily and magic barrier, and enduring the drain of his daily powers - it all left Silverheart ready to give in to the darkness. He had watched Calcifer transform and exact his revenge, and watched with awe and pride. He had succeeded in saving his friend's life, and the life on which depending an entire world. Unable to speak but accepting Calcifer’s healing spells, Silverheart let go. Closing his eyes, he sank into slumber, great exhaustion and weariness enclosing him deeply in their grip.
Blake Wales apparated before Calcifer and the sleeping body of Silverheart, and this time he wore a faint smile on his face, making him seem a little more human. Looking Calcifer in the eye, he winked at him, and though the silver dragon could not tell for sure, because the wizard disappeared in a comical billowing cloud of smoke, it looked as though the wizard actually gave him a brief, albeit comedic, salute. Shaking his head, Calcifer shouldered Silverheart onto his back, before shifting away to sanctuary.
