Shadows of Sins Past

It had taken Westwood a matter of hours to arrive at the borders of the dragon's kingdom. The land was drastically more grim than the place that he had just left. Instead of massive field of green and forests littering the lengths of the lands, it was covered much like a wasteland. Bones of fallen creatures littered the land he saw, the wasteland proving that only the strong survived and the weak were left to rot. The one thing that made the wasteland seem different was a single, enormous structure that looked like a fortress. Westwood could guess that this was the castle of the dragons.

Instead of flying straight to the castle itself Westwood landed on the hard, rocky earth to attempt to move in without causing an alarm in the structure He was on an assassination mission after all, there would be an enhanced security team protecting their leader if he triggered any sort of alarm or have anything spot him. Westwood was only looking to kill one of the beings today, only his intended target.

Nox appeared in front of Westwood giving him a stare down, "What is wrong with you? Why aren't you going on a full assault? You're a shade, a being that can take on an army on his own. Why are you sneaking around like a rat?" The shadow asked while Westwood stayed in cover being a large rock to keep himself from being.

"Because I am not here to show I am a strong warrior. I am here to be an assassin and to rescue Luna. If I make noise then it will make my life that much harder." Westwood spoke to the shadow in a hushed tone in case anything way looking of listening for anything out in the wasteland.

Nox growled at Westwood, "You are a shade. You are not supposed to be sneaky, you're supposed to be the immortal shadow that cannot be killed."

Westwood just let a grin come up to his face, "Technically, I am being the immortal shadow. By sticking to the shadows so no one can see me." He continued his conversation with the sentient shadow.

Nox pushed his smokey face up to the dragon's, "Listen here you little cretin. I was not locked away in the head of a human for thirty years for you to tell me that no one except for the one responsible is going to die. I want a slaughter. Blood everywhere. That is what I crave, bloodshed. You wouldn't do that on your own so I had to control your body to keep my urges sated. You are not going to tell me no!" The shadow shouted at Westwood.

Westwood looked the shadow directly in the eye then let a smirk come over his face, "No. Only one dragon dies. That was the context of the mission, that's all that happens." He spoke to Nox before moving a hand to Nox and pushing his hand through Nox's smokey head, "Now come on, I have to concentrate or we will both end up part of an extinct species. And I know you don't want that.

Nox narrowed the slits for eyes, "You win this round Woody. Next round is mine." He spoke once more vanishing from Westwood's sight.

Westwood sighed seeing that the disruptive shadow was gone once again, "God, that thing never knows when I don't want it around." He spoke before glancing over the rock he was using as cover. The slight image of a few larger dragons on a tall wall was the first thing he spotted. It wasn't going to be as easy to get inside as he thought it was, but then again his other missions had more cover and concealment compared to the wasteland he had to sneak through. After a single deep breath he began to sprint for the wall rather than fly. He had a low profile so flying was a bad idea compared to running on the ground where he wouldn't be easy to spot.

Westwood quickly turned and his back hit the wall to deaden the impact of the full sprint. With that he looked at his claws for a few seconds then looked up the wall, "Just like basic training." He spoke flexing his fingers then digging his claws with relative easy into the hard rock of the fortress, "Alright. One step at a time. Can't be more than five hundred feet up." He spoke pulling himself up and digging his digits into the stone.

Inside the fortress Luna remained in her cell. She remained quiet in her cell wondering what the purpose of bringing her to this place was. Footsteps could be heard in the darkness that the torches could not reach. Not loud and heavy steps that she had been accustomed to from the much larger dragons that had marched by watching the prisoners, but they were lighter and did not echo as much as the others. That was when he came into view, "Alabaster. What is going on? Why did your units attack my home and abduct me?" The princess asked moving to the bars to stare to the older white dragon.

Alabaster sighed softly, "It was unfortunate. I had to give the order, but you must understand that we had never intended for things to turn out this way." The white reptile spoke in a solemn tone as he lowered his head, "The intention was to eliminate the shade and stop this war, but it appeared that he was not there and we were forced to do what our king wished. He wanted to keep you as a trophy your highness."

Luna scowled at the white dragon, "I am well aware of that. That monster had stopped by when I had woken up and told me himself." Luna spoke showing the anger in her tone to the reptile.

"I see. And I apologize again, if that was not what our king told my units to do then it would not have happened." He spoke to Luna keeping his head down, "I wanted to avoid a pointless war, but it seems like we are not going to be out of it like I had wanted." He spoke to Luna before lifting his head, "The only thing we can hope for is that the shade does the honorable thing and kills himself to save lives." He spoke.

Luna pressed herself to the bars while eyes that reflected her rage as Nightmare Moon, "You take back those words right this instant you savage creature. No pony or dragon should have to kill themselves for this." Her face was filled with emotion in this statement not just rage, but others that she was not sure about.

Alabaster looked at the princess's face and saw what was there, "Do you care for the shade?" He asked keeping his hands behind his back.

Luna was taken aback by Alabaster's question, "What do you mean by care for?" Luna asked the white dragon.

Alabaster let out a small chuckle then he shook his head, "Nevermind. Forget I said anything." He spoke seeing that things might turn out different if the shade decided to be Luna's brave knight, "If what I hope happens. We may still avoid a war yet. Please be patient my princess." He spoke then giving a bow of respect to Luna.

Another voice echoed through the dark world around them, "Alabaster!" The voice of Luz shouted and echoed through the darkness around them, "I have to have you up in the training grounds to ready the troops for our grand conquering of Equestria!" The king shouted once more turning back away from the darkness to meet his subjects and warriors for this next battle.

Alabaster shook his head, "I will return. Hopefully the shade you desire will come to save his princess." He spoke to Luna then departed from the darkness once more leaving Luna alone in the world.

More footsteps however replaced the softer steps of the older dragon, heavier steps that were much more frequent as though there were more present. In front of her stood two massive fire type dragons with a set of chains and loops for what looked like would be Luna's neck and front legs, "Don't think that I am done with you just being here. What good is a trophy that no one can see?" The familiar voice of Luz spoke as the lock was undone and the door was swung open.

Luna had attempted to run out and try to evade the larger dragons, but Luz was close behind and slammed the princess into the stony ground like the units before had done a few hours ago, "Let me go you monster!" Luna shouted attempting to use her magic, but Luz pressed his clawed hand to the Princess's head to keep her from being able to aim her magic to any of the dragons in the dark recesses of this place.

"Not so fast princess." Luz spoke with a comical tone on his face, "Just because I opened a giant metal door doesn't mean that you can go where you like." He spoke as loud clamping sounds could be heard.

The cold feel of the metal on her legs and neck made her feel dizzy, like something was sapping the strength from her body, "What did you do to me?" Luna asked seeming to be unable to move on her own at the moment.

Luz laughed under his breath, his fangs exposed in the dim lighting, "Those binds are to you from being smart and trying to cast magic against us. I can't have my trophy trying to attack our citizens now can I?" He asked Luna as he then picked the princess up and placed her on her feet. The shackles on her rattled when her body was moved.

Luna felt weak from the bizarre shackles that sapped away her magical strength, "When Princess Celestia-" Luna started with a look on her face that one would say looked much like how she was when she was Nightmare Moon, but her words were broken by one of the larger dragon tugged on the chain that was attached to her neck.

"Now now princess. We do not have the chance to have a lover's quarrel here? We had to address everything to my subjects, then we can begin what I truly wish to do." He spoke to Luna placing a claw under her chin to force her to look into his eyes, "So be a good girl for me." He spoke with a sarcastic tone as Luna was pulled along with the king.

Westwood had finally reached the top of the wall, his body pressed close to the stone as he listened for footsteps. The steps were heavy with the nature of the dragons that had taken to the guard position, but they always seemed to leave a gap. As soon as it seemed that they left that gap, Westwood pulled himself over the wall to see they were not present.

Westwood looked back and forth from a low profile so he would not be spotted easily, it was clear. That part was what confused him more, not only were the footsteps absent, but there was no sign of life anywhere. The castle's wall was just as desolate and lifeless as the rest of the world around them. While it made this mission easier at the start, it made him wonder why this high security was unguarded.

His thoughts broke away from the situation and he progressed along the wall looking for a way inside the complex without having to take any major risks. His search granted him a doorway of stone. Slowly the dragon peeked around the corner, again it was clear. This was beyond strange to Westwood, that security would just suddenly vanish from every position around just after they had kidnapped a royal and an act of war the day before.

Westwood kept his body pressed into the stone of the wall, his footsteps silent as he progressed through the long hallway. There were no sounds, no talking, no signs of life. It unnerved Westwood the more he progressed through the long, dark hall. No light aside from torches were present, but that just gave him the upper hand since he could see much better in the dark than other being could if only because he was altered in his past body.

There was no sounds for nearly ten minutes as he slowly progressed through the hall. All of a sudden, the sound of thousands of voices rang out like a discordant symphony. Westwood sprinted towards the source of the sound, that was when he saw he was several hundred feet up in the air on what appeared to be a balcony overlooking a massive chamber of stone with an opening in the ceiling that made the world visible for the thousands of dragons on the ground. Different shapes and sizes were present, the voices soon falling silent as a confidant voice rang out from another balcony that was below him. His eyes had spotted one other that he saw next to the source of the voice. That was when he saw Luna there in chains.

The king and his fire dragon guards finally made it into the day light, their prisoner pulled along behind them. The king had a snarky grin on his face once more exposing his many fangs, "Look to your subjects my princess." He spoke looking to the thousands of reptiles in front of them, "Well, at least they technically are your subjects after I eradicate everything that you once held dear. Your old home, your old kingdom will be ashes by the time this war is over." He spoke to the princess.

Needless to say Luna wanted to fight back against her captors, the only thing keeping her from attempting to attack the king and his guards being the chains and shackles that were keeping her from moving too quickly. Her legs had felt heavier both from the weight of her shackles then the magic draining feature that her bonds possessed, "You deserve to burn in Tartarus for this you monster." She spoke trying as she could to be defiant against the king.

Luz just let a chuckle come up from his throat, "You'd be surprised on what happens my dear princess. You might end up liking this new life in time." He spoke before walking to the edge of the balcony and raising up a single fist in the air. The cheering from the crowd was near deafening, but that was just a boost to the king's ego.

"My wonderful subjects." The royal called out once the crowd had quieted down, "Today I announce the turning point of our grand species. For too long we have been suffering from the humiliation of having to rely on a species that is no more than the size of our foot to destroy a threat." He continued which was met by the crowd shouting in rage, "But now we are to redeem ourselves. From this day on, history will know that our race was not bested by a race of creatures that do not deserve our history. Today, we begin our battle against the ponies and redeem ourselves from our humiliation!" He shouted to the crowd in a triumphant manner that had the crowd cheering.

Luz looked back at Luna and then snickered as he waved for the fire dragons to pull Luna forward, "And our first step in our redemption is the capture of one of their rulers. I present to you our first and only prisoner, one of the princesses. I bring you Princess Luna!" He called out which was greeted with more cheers of the crowd, "She will be the only being left to remind the world of how weak these creatures are. That their species can be erased as easily as a single war." He called to the crowd with a wide grin on his face seeing the enthusiasm in the crowd.

Westwood listened to Luz's speech as he attempted to get closer to the ruler without revealing his position to the crowd that was under him. With him being the only black scaled dragon that was in the crowd he would certainly stand out even of no one paid attention to him. His motions lead to him climbing up the wall, using his claws once again to keep him secured to the stone that surrounded the room. He continued climbing along the rock face, his body alternating between upwards motions and moving sideways to attempt to get the better point of attack. With Luna here and in chains, she was a major priority for rescue as well. This had turned from an assassination to a search and rescue in the matter of a few minutes.

It had taken to the end of Luz's speech before the black scaled dragon was a good ways overhead of Luz, but he was too far out from the wall to be able to pounce. He looked down seeing that the best route he could possibly take was to attack the fire dragons first then get Luna out of the shackles. Westwood took in a deep breath, part of him cursing the fact that he was having this idea. That was when he jumped off the wall, his body dropping quickly. Gasps could be heard as the shade then came into view. The action however was too late for Luz and one of the fire dragons that had been keeping a hold of Luna's shackles.

A long knife appeared after his shadow stretched from the wall, Westwood's foot impacting the first fire dragon in the head and forcing the larger dragon head first into the ground instantly knocking the beast out. As the dust flew from the impact, Westwood used the knife and sliced clean through the bonds that kept Luna secured and powerless.

The second dragon had a dumbstruck look on his face before seeing Luna now unshackled, her magic and strength quickly returning, "You shall now see the mistake you made reptile." Luna spoke as a beam of magic shot from Luna's horn and launched the much larger dragon into the crowd leaving Luz, Luna and Westwood the only beings in the balcony.

Westwood clenched the dark edged weapon tightly seeing the white and gold reptile in front of him. Judging by the macabre fixture atop of Luz's head, Westwood could guess that this was the king.

Luz looked back after hearing the sounds of the dragon hitting the ground and the magic that was cast to blow the second fire dragon away. His lips fixed in a grin, "Well now. It seems that the ponies have been given aid by an extinct species." Luz spoke looking at Westwood.

Westwood remained silent as he watched the king's movement. His knife ready for retaliation for what had been done.

Luz chuckled as he looked to Westwood, "What's the matter shade? Your extinction hit your throat too?" Luz spoke stepping forward.

Westwood kept his ground as he watched the white and gold dragon move forward, "No. I just don't like to talk to my targets." The black scale dragon spoke staring down his intended target.

Luna stood her ground as well though it seemed that she was being ignored by Luz strangely enough.

"Princess Luna." Westwood started keeping his eyes on Luz, "You're free to go. Get back to the castle, I can take care of myself here." Westwood continued.

Luz laughed at Westwood's remark, "Yes. Go ahead princess. I have a new trophy that I can mount on my wall." He spoke with a grin on his face, "I will be the one to kill the last shade. I will be the most famous king in all of history." He spoke cracking his knuckles and moving to what the shade