Cryu Stormwing's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Cryu Stormwing wanted the throne of the Cloud Kingdom to name him its sworn guardian. He had trained his whole life for that oath. This morning he almost lost the kingdom instead. The clouds under the eastern district were rotting. Their bright white had turned gray and soft. When Cryu landed, his claws sank in like they were wet ash. He knew every threat that circled his home. He counted them each night. This one was new. The rot spread while he watched. A spire near the district's edge tilted. Below it, families ran across the sagging bridges. If the cloud gave way, their whole district would drop from the sky. Cryu dug his claws deep and let his lightning pour into the cloud. Electric current was his strength. It always held storms together. Now it made the rot worse. The gray spread faster where he touched. He pulled back, wings shaking. His power was feeding the sorcery, not fighting it. He knew that kind of magic. Dark spellwork, made to sink and swallow. Only one caster in these skies used it. She stood on the tilting spire as if it were solid ground. Madness Everthorn. Her dark robe hung still though the wind screamed. Purple gems glowed at her chest and belt. She smiled down at him the way a person smiles at a small problem. "The electric dragon," she said. "You held every door but the floor." Cryu's chest went cold. He had trained against every angle of attack. He had never trained for the ground beneath his people to betray them. This was his failure. He took the blame, and he took it now. "Stop it," he said. "Whatever you want, take it from me." "I want the guardian's seat," Madness said. "So I am removing the kingdom that would give it to you." The spire groaned and dropped a full length. Screams rose from the bridge. Cryu stopped trying to fight the rot. He could not heal what her magic gnawed. He could only carry what would fall. He dove beneath the sinking district. He spread his wings wide and pressed his back against the soft gray cloud. His muscles burned. The whole district's weight came down on his spine. He held. He roared for the people above to run inland, and they ran. The last family crossed to solid cloud. The rotten section tore free above him. Cryu let it fall past his shoulder and beat his wings hard. He carried nothing but empty sky now. The people were safe. The district was gone. A jagged hole gaped in the kingdom's floor where homes had stood. He rose back to the spire. Madness was gone. On the torn cloud where she had stood, she had pressed a red mark into the white. It matched the door of a far dark tower he had seen from a distance. Cryu knew where to find her now.