Killer in the Mirror - Janblu Story

 "Now I know
There's no one I can trust
I used to think there was
Tell me that I'm cutthroat
I think you got your eyes closed
Feel the fear
And swallow back the tears
Let weakness disappear
There's nobody but me here
The killer in the mirror"
- Killer in the Mirror, Set It Off

Four dragons flew over old forbidden forest. One red, one green, one brown, and another more blue than the sky could be. The red one led the pack, guiding them to a cave he had once seen but never entered. The green, and the brown one both brought up the rear, forming an invisible triangle. And in the middle of that triangle, penned in physically, and emotionally, was Janblu.

“Guys, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Janblu protested for the umpteenth time that flight.

“Nonsense! I told you, it’s perfectly safe! You want to protect these kinds of ancient places, right? You should get to know them!” the red dragon said.

“But they’re forbidden to enter,” Janblu mumbled.

“Come on now! Do you really believe that nonsense about the ancient dragons?” the green dragon called.

Janblu didn’t respond. He had heard of the religions of the ancient dragons. It was hard not to, as one group called The Ancients had just launched an attack on a distant trading post. But whether the ancient dragons, beings wielding magic so powerful they caused the blanket genocide of most of the entire species, existed — Janblu didn’t know.

In the distance, a rock formation came into view. Moss creeped all over it, and hanging vines created a curtain of sorts around the entire formation, down to the ground. Something inside Janblu felt unsettled. Not because of anything he felt, but because of his mere presence to the structure.

“That’s the place! Let’s land!” the red dragon called.

The four dragons swooped low, and landed in front of the rock formation. They were in front of an entrance to that formation, and from what Janblu could perceive past the curtain of vines, there was a cave inside. Something was unsettled beneath his scales. He could sense it, but glancing around, it didn’t appear as though his friends could. Perhaps it was the purer wind dragon blood in his veins. But that cave had magic.

“Well then Janblu, all you need to do is head on in!” the red dragon said.

“I’m not so sure about this, Kutib,” Janblu replied, edging away from the cave.

“What are you, a coward?” the green dragon teased.

The brown dragon glanced at the green. “Janblu isn’t a coward, Nyok!”

“Well, he just has to prove it then! Be a drake! Not a viper.” Nyok said.

This comment stung Janblu more than he expected, making him flinch. He looked around, to his friends, but found no reprieve. With heavy paws, he trudged his way towards the cave entrance. Through the curtain of vines, and into the cave.

It was green on the inside, a space large enough that Janblu felt he would be able to fly. Yet it was not that big on the outside. Strange. Plants, the likes of which Janblu had never seen before, littered all around. Vibrant green, growing despite the lack of sunlight. Instead, vines from the ceiling hung low, their ends tipped with a growing cyan rock, lighting up the space. Glimmering orbs drifted through the air. Yet for all the blue glow, the light of the cave was not stained by the colour.

The strangest thing about that cave was the lake in the centre. It, too, glowed, such that the water seemed to have a magical trait to it.

Everything was so beautiful, mesmerising, that Janblu forgot about his apprehension. Perhaps he didn’t have anything to fear from such a place. Perhaps not all old magic was bad.

Yet, he did not know the purpose of the cave. Nor of the rituals and mindset the ancient dragons took to enter it. The so called Stability Cave, a great test for ancient dragons to determine if they were ready for their procession towards ascension.

The cave delved into Janblu’s psyche, finding an old trauma hidden deep within the folds of his mind. A famished wolf, torn apart by deadly claws. A hatred of violence, and guilt, manifesting in red marks upon Janblu’s paws. Like blood was staining them. The cave brought those emotions to the forefront, and made them manifest. As was its purpose. Only, without the proper rituals, the being that took shape held more power than ever intended.

“Well hello there, Janblu,” a voice called, from the entrance of the cave.

Janblu, who’d walked deeper into the cave, spun round. There, guarding the entrance, stood a new dragon. One that sent shivers down Janblu’s scaled. The dragon was red, like blood. Growths, like boils and cancer, raised its skin in several places, while holes throughout its body showed the flesh inside. Its horns were black, spiked, and sharp. A trail of black spines ran along the back of the creature. Janblu’s own spines, 3 upon the back of his neck, shivered and lowered at the sight of this being. It grinned, with long sharp teeth, and its slitted pupil glowed red. Its tail swung behind it, showing the tip of it had a large metal blade embedded inside, the side of it stained with what looked to be aged blood. The dragon’s wings were black, with blue marks like lightning.

Janblu somehow knew its name, despite never hearing it. Inachukiza.

“So nice of you to give me life,” the demon said with a cackle. “Now, I need to escape!”

Inachukiza rushed at Janblu, causing the blue dragon to yelp in fear. Janblu tried to run, to escape, but the demon appeared in front to block him. Fire seemed to follow that other dragon, as though it was coming out of another dimension. Yet that demon was from Janblu’s own mind.

It pushed him back, blocked his every escape, until Janblu felt the tip of his tail touch the water of the lake. In an instant, there was a tugging force, and the blue dragon felt himself being pulled backwards, into the lake. Inachukiza was in front of him, a paw on his neck, searing him.

“Goodbye, progenitor,” Inachukiza said with glee, before pushing Janblu into the water.

The lake swirled like a vortex, sucking the poor dragon into its depths as he gasped in fear. The water was cold, a sensation unfamiliar to most dragons, and seemed to smoother over Janblu’s mind, making it harder to think. The demonic dragon plunged one claw into the turbulent water, and his entire figure dissolved into the lake like a fast-melting statue. A red blur that approached Janblu as a shark approaches its prey. Sinking through Janblu’s scales, into his maw, nostrils, ears, and other zones.

It went into his mind, his body, his soul, and took over. In went a blue dragon. Out came the red demon. Inachukiza, with a proper body of his own. He felt pain in ever part. Cuts that ran along his forelegs. Holes within his body. Growths that pushed against his scales. A metal blade embedded within the fleshy tip of his tail, dripping blood. Those were the sensations that Inachukiza loved, craved, almost as much as the sensation of taking life.

“Janblu? Are you okay in there?” came a voice form outside, the brown dragon. Delving into Janblu’s memories, Inachukiza found the name. Siwa.

“Yeah, I’m just coming out!” Inachukiza called back, borrowing his host’s voice.

Inside the trappings of his own mind, Janblu could not understand what was going on. His body did not feel like itself. He saw what Inachukiza saw, coated in a haze of red. A desire for violence flowed through every part of him, from the metal tail-blade to the sharpened tip of his nose. At once, it occurred to Janblu. He was trapped inside the demon’s mind, relegated to the background. And as Inachukiza began to walk towards the exit of the cave, Janblu felt a sense of urgency.

No. He couldn’t let the demon walk free.

Inachukiza walked, unimpeded. He could hear, smell, sense the three dragons outside. One close to entering the Stability Cave. There was also Janblu in the background, but the dragon was easy to ignore. Only one thing mattered.

Siwa approached the entrance of the cave. Behind him, Kutib and Nyok edged away, smirks on their faces. The dare had been successful, they didn’t care to be there when Janblu came back out, sobbing and scared. He was a fun one to tease, as a weird little outsider, too much of a wind dragon to ever blend in. Wings that were too big, movements too fast. And those little red marks. For Kutib, pretending to be Janblu’s friend was the greatest source of entertainment he had.

Siwa made to poke his head through the curtain of vines, but never did. There was a thud, and the brown dragon’s head rolled away from where it landed. The body staggered backwards, before falling sideways. Dead. Through the curtains, a red dragon appeared. Not Janblu. Dangerous, bigger, spikier. Kutib and Nyok, already in the process of flight, wasted no time in departing faster, while the demon at the cave laughed, while stabbing his tail into the corpse of their friend.

For Janblu, it was too much to bear. He screamed in that prison of his mind, and fought. At first, nothing. He could only watch as his tail, Inachukiza’s tail, flew through the curtain and decapitated his friend. But now that the demon was feeling more satisfied, Janblu felt more and more control over their shared body. With each stab into the dead body, more and more scales turned from blood-red to brilliant blue.

Until all that remained was Janblu. Blood soaking his grey leaf-shaped tail-blade. Splatters of it on his tail wings, legs, main wings, and even his face. Demon in his mind, raging like Janblu had done, but unable to get anywhere.

He buried the body, and fled the scene.

Inachukiza followed Janblu wherever he went. At every moment, waking or sleeping, the demon was there. A reminder of what had happened. There had been moments, times where it seemed as though the demon would take over and murder again. But Janblu was able to take control again. His guilt, vs the demon’s bloodlust.

Every glimpse of his reflection reminded him of the event. Of the killer lurking within him. It hurt enough that it gave Janblu a goal. He had to figure out a way to escape the torture. Each and every day was a battle of survival. So Janblu, with a permanent headache caused by Inachukiza, figured out two possibilities. One, was to solve his issue with magic, healing magic to be exact. He figured it would be opposite to Inachukiza, giving him more power over the demon. Two, was to research the Stability Cave, and ancient magic.

Due to the danger Janblu felt Inachukiza posed, he went to distant spire libraries. Fewer dragons. But also knowledge that was harder to come by in more central spires. From his research, Janblu began to learn of the Ancient Dragons. And the Ancient Magic they used. This only increased the need for Janblu to be granted magical power.

In the end, he applied to the Central Spire Academy of Health. There were too many dragons there. But also plenty of magic, literature, and old structures for Janblu to use. The academy caused his body to undergo changes. His wing tips, once normal, now featured cyan growths, like orbs. And a warning. If Janblu used healing magic to injure or kill, those orbs would become cancerous, and kill him in return.

A backup plan, in Janblu’s eyes, if he could not find a way to be rid of the demon he’d picked up.