DRAGON PUNKS NFT 07: Guardian of the Sacred Heart

One of the keepers stood guard at the perimeter of where the group had traveled to. Xylith and the other keepers worked tirelessly to save Sayonara Rex. Eon and Nova were also helping where they could. The young keeper's skin shivered with unease as he gazed at the darkening horizon. What had begun as distant clouds now coalesced into a writhing mass of obsidian vapor shot through with veins of electric blue lightning. The storm advanced with unnatural speed, devouring the beautiful prismatic sky of Crystallia. Keepers studied and trained their entire lives to work as aides to the old dragon Master Xylith. They are scholars and keepers of sacred knowledge on Crystallia. Their purpose is to study all knowledge across the universe and throughout the many realms. Many were there that day assisting Xylith with the recovery of Sayonara Rex.

The young keeper rushed to Xylith Tearlock's side, voice tight with urgency. He nervously cleared his throat before he spoke. "Master, the atmospheric disturbance... something unnatural comes our way."

Xylith's ancient eyes remained fixed on Rex and Alice as they lay unconscious on the massive crystal monolith that Xylith summoned from the heart of Crystallias core. "The resonance patterns were bound to alert her. It is forbidden to disturb the sacred heart without consequence."

"Wait, what does that mean?" Eon stepped forward, his amber scales catching the last rays of light before the storm swallowed the sun. "What did you do, Xylith?"

Nova moved beside him, her attention drawn to the violent lightning that forked across the darkened sky, each strike closer than the last. The wind began to rise, carrying with it the scent of ozone and rain as it began to fall.

"We need to leave now Eon!," she said, her voice barely audible above the rising winds. "Whatever's coming, we can't face it here in the open like this."

Rex groaned, attempting to push himself upright from the crystal. His muscles trembled with the effort before giving out entirely, sending him crashing back down. "Fantastic," he muttered through clenched teeth. "Useless."

The first heavy raindrops struck the crystal obelisk and Rex. Small puddles began to form as they gathered around the base in the mud. Wind tore across the landscape, bending the purple grass horizontal and forcing the keepers to brace themselves against its fury. The sky blackened.

Alice remained motionless next to Rex, still unconscious, as the chaos unfolded around her.

Panic rippled through the air. The keeper's emerald crystalline horns reflected the lightning in fractured patterns as they huddled together, eyes wide with recognition of what approached.

"Stand firm everyone," Xylith commanded, his voice cutting through the howling wind. "Show her we are not intimidated!" He yelled out.

One young keeper, overcome with fear, turned and bolted across the plain. "I can't! I'm sorry but I won't die here!"

"No!" Xylith roared after him. "You'll only provoke her further. Return to formation! I beg you!"

But the young keeper was beyond hearing. Eon watched as the terrified dragon ran. In less than 20 frantic strides an invisible force seized him, lifting his struggling body 20 feet into the air. For a terrible moment, he hung suspended against the roiling sky, then slammed violently into the ground. Before he could recover, the force yanked him skyward again. He screamed in terror.

"Eon what do we do?" Nova said frantically, she pressed against Eon, her usual confidence shattered by the unnatural display of power. The storm had transformed the serene landscape into a maelstrom of violent wind rain and thunder. Lightning flashed relentlessly around them. The horizon was swallowed by swirling black winds, and visibility was no more than the 15 feet from the groups center.

Eon wrapped a protective arm around her, eyes looking to the sky for the suspended young keeper. "We listen to the old man," he said, fighting to keep his voice steady. "He knows this place better than we do."

The keeper's screams ended abruptly as a precise and deliberate flash of lightning struck him. In an instant, his form was vaporized, and nothing but dispersing atoms and ash were carried away in the turbulent wind.

The remaining keepers watched in horrified silence looking to each other for guidance.

“Steady, do not flee! I beg of you! She despises fear.” Xylith pleaded.

In an instant another keeper was plucked from the ground and lifted into the blackened sky. His screams lost in the violent wind.

The remaining keepers panicked! Their fear was too great and in one sudden moment they scattered in all directions, fleeing from the epicenter of the storm.

"My friends, no!"

but Xylith's plea was lost and ignored in the violent winds and rain that surrounded them.

With wide eyes Nova watched the scene around her. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped Eon's arm with all her strength. She watched in disbelief as each fleeing keeper was lifted from the ground, lost in the vast darkness that had consumed the sky. They struggled like insects caught in invisible webs before being violently propelled upward, disappearing into the churning clouds above.

For a moment, the storm's fury seemed to calm. The lightning paused its assault, the thunder receded to a distant rumble. In this momentary quiet, Nova looked down on Alice while she held tightly onto Eon. In a brief moment that felt like suspended time a crimson droplet ran down Alice's face. Then another. And another. Nova held out her hand in more disbelief as it became coated in a thick crimson rain.

Nova screamed as the blood of the keepers showered down on them from above.

Rex, still prone on the crystal bed, erupted into a harsh laugh. "haha! safe, you said?" He fixed Xylith with an accusatory glare. "Your definition needs revision, old one." Rex chuckled at the events unfolding and again coughed as he struggled to stay alive, still reeling in pain from his wounds.

Xylith moved protectively in front of the wounded warrior and the unconscious Alice. "Eon, Nova, behind me. Now."

They complied, forming a defensive triangle around the crystal bed as the storm concentrated into a single point before them. The darkness coalesced, taking physical form as two luminous white eyes materialized within the blackened storm around them.

Electricity crackled across obsidian scales as a massive figure emerged from the storm. Her presence alone seemed to bend reality around her.

“Shadarax.” Xylith said under his breath.

“Whats a Shadarax?” Eon asked from behind.

“She is the Guardian of Crystallia, keeper of the sacred laws.” Xylith said.

The tension in the air was at a pinnacle. Time appeared to slow as the crimson soaked group awaited their visitor.

A soft, dangerous chuckle emanated from the winds around them. Her form flickered as she approached, each step leaving smoldering footprints in the purple grass as she solidified her presence.

"Xylith," she purred, her voice somehow both melodic and grating, like crystal being slowly crushed. "It's been centuries. You know summoning from the sacred heart is forbidden."

Xylith bowed his head slightly, a gesture of respect rather than submission. "Guardian Shadarax, your dramatic entrance was unnecessary. My keepers did not deserve such a fate."

Shadarax's scales absorbed all light that touched them, creating a draconic silhouette of perfect darkness broken only by her light gray facial markings and the electric current that danced between her horns. Shimmering electric currents flowed over her body. She was magnificent in her terrifying beauty, her form dwarfing even Rex's substantial frame.

"Unnecessary?" Her eyes narrowed to glowing slits. "You tap into the heart of Crystallia without permission, and you dare to lecture me?" She circled them slowly and deliberate, like a predator circling its prey. "You have one opportunity to justify this transgression before I add your companions to my next... forecast." Shadarax glared fiercely into the eyes of Xylith as he spoke.

Eon couldn't move his gaze from her. Despite the imminent danger, he was transfixed by her raw power and the perfect lethality of her form. Beside him, Nova trembled with a mixture of fear and outrage.

"I awakened the heart to save this warrior and countless worlds," Xylith gestured to Rex. "He carries crucial information about corruption in the Time-Space Corridor. Rotwingz have breached the barriers between worlds. Their corruption spreads."

Shadarax paused her circling pace, her tail lashed against the ground. "Rotwingz are a bedtime story to frighten hatchlings, Xylith."

"The corruption is real," Xylith insisted. "It nearly claimed Rex, and it threatens this human's world as well. Without intervention, the contamination will spread through the Corridor, potentially reaching Crystallia."

Shadarax's attention shifted to Alice, her nostrils flaring as she took in the human's scent. "I can smell your little... guinea pig… Xylith" She leaned closer, inhaling deeply. "Her blood carries a… sweetness." She had a menacing laugh in her tone as she spoke.

"She is not food, Shadarax" Xylith said firmly. "She is vital to understanding the corruption's effects on non-draconic physiologies. I also had to synchronize her soul matrix with the warrior’s. They are bound. If you kill her then the warrior dies as well. And along with them our chances to fight the Rotwingz."

Shadarax's tongue flicked out, tasting the air around Alice. "Oh one small bite wouldn't compromise your studies? Just a taste of that... sweetness..." she whispered.

"You didn't have to murder them!" Nova burst out, unable to contain her horror any longer. "Those keepers were innocent!" She cried in anger.

“What insolence!” Shadarax snapped.

In a blur of motion that defied her size, Shadarax seized Nova by the throat, lifting her effortlessly. "Innocent? No one is innocent!" Her grip tightened. "I might just devour your pretty face now.”

Eon launched himself at Shadarax without thought, driven by raw instinct to protect Nova. "Let her go!"

The storm guardian didn't even look in his direction as she sidestepped his charge with supernatural grace, catching him by the throat with her free hand. Now she held both dragons aloft, their feet dangling helplessly above the ground.

"Oh Xylith! Your pets have abysmal manners," Shadarax remarked, squeezing just enough to make both Nova and Eon gasp for air. Her horns crackled with electric energy, silver striations along their length glowing with building power. “And now I am curious…”

Xylith stepped forward, hands raised in supplication. "They are ignorant of our ways, Shadarax. They come from Paradise Valley, a realm untouched by Crystallia's influence for millennia. They have no knowledge of our ways."

Shadarax gazed into the eyes of Eon piercing into his soul. Struggling to breath he stared back at her.

Her horns and skin cracked with electric sparks. She smiled a playful yet menacing and seductive smile at Eon. “Ah, you have some spice!”

Squeezing Eon tighter an electric pulse went down her arm and into Eon. His body shook rapidly as Shadarax continued to watch him suffer in joy. The electricity flowed rapidly and without interruption.

Nova watched and squirmed in horror as she watched her brother's death unfold.

Xylith shouted out in protest.

"No! He carries a Time Disruptor!"

Shadarax's attention shifted and the electricity stopped. Her grip on Eon and Nova loosened slightly. "Impossible. The Disruptor technology is sealed deep within the caverns."

"Yet he possesses one," Xylith insisted. "And if you execute them now, you condemn not just these two, but potentially three more realms to destruction. The corruption spreads with each death it causes, feeding on the energy released. If you are truly the guardian of Crystallia, you must allow us to understand and fight the Rotwing threat that is coming."

Silence stretched between them, punctuated only by the labored breathing of Eon and Nova as they struggled in Shadarax's grasp. Finally, with a dismissive flick of her wrists, she released them. They collapsed to the ground, gasping and coughing for air.

"If I discover you've fabricated this threat to access the heart for some hidden purpose," Shadarax leaned close to Xylith, her voice dropping to a whisper that somehow carried more menace than her roar, "I will strip the flesh from your friends while you watch. Then I'll take my time with you, old one."

She cast a final manacing glare at Alice. "Such a shame to deprive myself of that sweet blood you have there Xylith. I will taste her one day. I will not forget this." With that, she stepped back into the storm, her form dissolving into the darkness as the clouds dispersed as quickly as they had arrived.

The rain stopped. The gentle breeze returned. Sunlight gradually spread across the crystal plain, revealing the aftermath of Shadarax's visit. Scorch marks in the purple grass, muddy puddles mixed with crimson surrounded them, and the haunted expressions of the group.

Rex grimaced, attempting once more to rise from the crystal bed. His muscles trembled before giving out. "Delightful acquaintance, old man" he managed through gritted teeth. "Is she single?"

Xylith moved swiftly to his side, his robe soaked in blood. "We must get you and the human to proper medical facilities immediately. The heart's work has kept you alive, but you clearly need more advanced healing immediately."

Nova, also covered in the blood of the keepers, approached Alice's motionless body, her hands still shaking from the encounter with Shadarax. "I'll carry her." Her voice quivered.

Eon struggled to his feet nearly recovered from the electric shock, his voice hoarse from Shadarax's grip. "I've got him." He bent to lift Rex off the crystal.

Rex's arm shot out, grabbing Eon's wrist with surprising strength for his weakened state. "Grab me, and I'll tear your hand from your arm!" he growled.

"Noted," Eon replied shocked at the immense strength in Rex’s grip, “I bet you are loads of fun when your guts are actually inside your body. Name’s Eon by the way, and that's my sister Nova."

Rex attempted to stand independently while holding his wound. The keepers had wrapped bandages around his torso before the storm. Everyone was soaked in blood. He could no longer tell what was his and what was the keepers.

“No one should be able to stand with a wound like that.” Nova said cringing. She could feel Rex’s pain almost as if it were her own.

He managed to get upright before his legs buckled beneath him, sending him crashing back toward the crystal monolith. His gaping wound from the Rotwing attack in the Corridor needed attention immediately.

Xylith caught him before he could fall, positioning himself under Rex's right arm. "Your pride will not expedite your healing, warrior. The heart of Crystallia has saved your life by synchronizing your soul with the human's. If she dies, you die." Xylith strained as he spoke.

“Young Eon, Grab his other arm.”

After a moment of visible internal struggle, Rex relented, allowing Xylith to support his weight. Eon moved to his other side, taking some of the burden.

Nova cradled Alice like a baby doll, studying the human's features with curious intensity. "Will she wake soon?" She put her ear on Alice’s chest to find her heart beat. “She still lives.” Nova felt relief and a strange comfort in Alice. She didn't understand the reason.

"That depends," Xylith replied, his gaze moving between Rex and Alice, "on how quickly he heals. Their life forces are synchronized now, a bond not easily broken. She is much better off unconscious for the moment while her body makes adjustments. If she were to awake she would likely fall back into unconsciousness as she would feel the pain of our warrior friend as intensely as he does."

Eon couldn't stop thinking about Shadarax. The image of her gaze was burned into his mind when she nearly killed him with an electric force most would not be able to survive.

He shifted his focus towards Xylith.

“Hey old man! How do we get your murderous psycho blood bath Guardian to fight on our side? ….ya know, if these Rotwingz are as bad as you say they are.”

A half smile formed on Xylith's face.

“Eon she nearly killed you!” Nova interjected with anger.

“I hope we never see that blood thirsty monster ever again.”

Xylith took a heavy breath.

“Unfortunately young Nova, your brother is right. We will need Shadarax on our side for what lies ahead.”

Nova had a disgusted look on her face.

“I will never forgive her for what she did today!”

Eon's mind was racing as the thought of seeing Shadarax again made his heart pound in excitement. He looked up at the path as they made their way back to Crystallia's capital city.

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DRAGON PUNKS NFT 07: Guardian of the Sacred Heart Trade DRAGON PUNKS NFTs here: MAGIC EDEN