Afflictions and Nightmares
((Alright, this is the last post I will be making before I ship. Enjoy the read (it is long), leave the gripes at the door (:P) and I'll see everyone in about six months!
Also, this was kind of rushed since I was pressed for time. I may repost this in the future if I decide to rewrite it.))
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The dark scaled hatchling kept close to the wall as he snuck down the lair tunnel. Lately, he had taken to working on his A'mea's present at night, when the others were sleeping. It was easier that way, no one could interrupt him. Granted, he now lacked the diagram he had been using as a model, thanks to some gold Dragon who thought it was funny to take his scalepack away, but he was pretty sure he remembered what it looked like.
Silently, Zeroun squeezed himself through the opening in the wall. Pulling himself through the tight space, it only took a few moments to reach the small cave. When he was dune with the tunnel, it would look better, but Zeroun wanted to finish his mural first. "Aen will da keep Ieo from finisshhing..." He muttered to himself as his foreclaws dug into the stone wall, never straying from the lines already drawn on the surface.
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"Your movements are strange." The large silver Dragon stated, head on the ground, her human "companion" nearby. "How does one fight like that?"
Lykopis kept her body fluid as she practiced her katas, though she managed to spare a glance at Kandrin. "These aren't specifically for combat. They're designed to improve my body and keep me fit."
"You're supposed to be Gifted... We don't need to do this "exercising" thing."
"I AM Gifted." Lykopis scowled. "Just not to your extent."
Kandrin rumbled in amusement. "Yes, yes. I know." There was a brief pause as the blind Dragon chewed on her foreclaws. "Tell me, have you been able to find what I'm looking for?"
There was only silence from the human for a moment. Kandrin assumed it was because Lykopis was so focused on her training. "Not yet. The free world is still a lot of space to cover. When I do, though, you'll be the first to know."
Lykopis could feel the Dragon's mind trying to poke around in hers. After a minute, Kandrin finally nodded. "Very well. I thank you for looking."
"Of course."
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It wasn't as though she enjoyed lieing, oh no. She had always considered herself a better person than that. But she desparately needed the training, and it was hard enough trying to find someone to teach her. Most gave her parchments, then threw their hands up when they found she lacked the skills to read.
Her current mentor, while just as irate and more vocal about it than past mentors, had come up with a way around the handicap. Lykopis may not be able to use a spell invented by another, but was there a reason she couldn't make her own spells?
Sadly, the process was still slow. Without being able to read, a lot of the theory was lost to her. But until she had a way to decipher the formally excepted spells, there was only so much she could do. Not only that, but spells were written differently than normal... sentances. Most were written with symbols... it all made her very frustrated.
No matter. She had to get back to Tazoon, soon. There was still more training to go through.
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Maybe training wasn't the right word. Scolding, perhaps. Sometimes even yelling.
"You need to focus."
Lykopis ground her teeth together at the words and growled. Her hands were cupped together, eyes staring hard at a point between her palms, she struggled to summon the fire she needed for her lesson.
"Focus!"
"I am!"
"Then focus HARDER!"
"I can't with all your YELLING!" Lykopis slammed her fists down on the table, lip curling up in a frustrated snarl. "Isn't there an easier way to do this?"
Zephyrin rolled her eyes as she turned away. "Reading alone would make it easier..." She approached the bookshelf, and after looking through the titles, pulled one from its spot. "Maybe we can cheat. I bet even you could learn to recognize symbols." As she spoke, she returned to the table and dropped a book in front of the human. "Runes are symbols of power, they're used to write spells. If you change the order, or add one, or take one away, the entire spell is changed." Zephyrin leafed through a couple pages as she continued. "I think if you learn to recognize runes and what they stand for, you may be able to use them as a sort of focus point."
"But I can't read normal words. How am I supposed to learn to read words written with these?" Lykopis eyed the symbols drawn on the pages apprehensively, before leaning back in her chair, head hanging over the headrest.
"You're overthinking it." Zephyrin stopped turning the pages and pointed to a rune drawn on the paper. "The rune symbolizes the thing, you don't spell it out with the symbols. One rune, one thing. Two or more runes can make a spell. This is the rune for "fire." Learn it."
"And focus on it? I might set the book on fire."
"Not if you value your fingers."
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Large talons tore into the earth at a steady pace as Kandrin dug into the rock wall. It was about time this corridor was finished. Her son had apparently finished his little projected at the end of the tunnel, and all that had to be done was to complete the way there.
She would have asked him if he wanted to help, if he wasn't in the middle of a class with one of his trainers. He could always work on another section of the lair, anyway. Drulkar knew it wasn't anywhere near finished.
Another chunk of rock fell from the wall as the Dragon finally reached the near completed chamber. With a satisfied snort, Kandrin turned her head from side to side, nostrils flaring slowly. Rumbling, she stepped into the space, carefully feeling her way as she did.
Something on the far wall caught her attention. Frowning, Kandrin lumbered forward to rub her snout against the surface. She could feel the lines and symbols carved in the rock, and Zeroun's scent was all over it. As she growled, she ran the pads of one paw across the carving, struggling to form a mental image of it.
As far as she could tell, it was some sort of diagram. Circular in shape, multiple lines created a more or less spiral pattern within it. Runic symbols followed the lines in a series she was quite unfamiliar with.
Kandrin sought out the corridor's wall torch, breathing a small amount of fire into the bowl to light it. Sitting down and lowering her head, she reached out for the nearby mind with her own. The Dragon would need help... the diagram was certainly not Draconic in nature.
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Focus point? Check. Concentration? ... Check. Bucket of water and some salve? Check.
Lykopis stared hard at the rune symbol she had drawn in ink on her palm. She could see the heat waves distorting the air above her hands. Just a little more concentration, and -
The presence in her mind would have gone completely unnoticed if it hadn't outright jabbed at her. Sighing, Lykopis dropped her hands onto her lap and closed her eyes, leaning her head back. -What is it?-
It took a moment for her to get a reply. The whole time she waited, she could practically feel the Dragon moving around in her head. -I found something here, in one of Netherhold's tunnels... I think it's some sort of diagram. One of those strange naka circles...- Lykopis's hands and the base of her skull tingled slightly, and she saw the shadowy, fuzzy image of a spiral and strange marks in her mind.
-Is it magickal, then?-
-I don't feel anything... but then, I also don't think it's based on Dragon magicks. You should come look.-
-You know I lack experience.-
-Then bring your "teacher."-
The sharpness of the Dragon's thoughts made Lykopis physically flinch. She heard Zephyrin move at the other end of the room, probably lifting her head. Before answering, Lykopis took a breath. -I'll be there soon.-
-I'll be waiting.- There was silence for a moment. -Oh, and one more thing.-
-Yes?-
-Tell her it's been a long time...-
The human grimaced as Kandrin withdrew from her consciousness. With another sigh, Lykopis pinched the bridge of her nose and opened her eyes. "Oh gods..."
"Oh dear..." Zephyrin drawled. "We must have been found out." Huffing, she closed the book she had been reading.
"The silver found a diagram in her lair...' Lykopis groaned as she sat upright. "I think one of her sons made it. She wants someone to take a look."
"How lovely. What's this diagram look like?"
Leaning her head to one side, Lykopis reached forward to open one of the fiend's books. After a moment of page turning, she stopped to point at a picture. "Like that. The swirl is reversed, I think... more runes are in it. Different, though, and I wouldn't doubt in another order. I can't be certain, though, she can't get a good look after all."
Zephyrin's eyes widened slightly. "Is that so? Well then..." She got up out of her chair to get a better look at the page. "I just might be willing to face the Iron Wyrm to get a good look at this..."
"You know what it is?"
"You had better hope I'm wrong. That's used in certain darker arts as a summoning circle."
Lykopis rolled her eyes. "So when would you like to leave?"
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It had been a long couple of days for Zeroun. His lessons had seemed like they were never going to end, and all he really wanted to do was get back to his A'mea's lair and finish his project. With renewed energy, the black and blue hatchling bounced down the slope towards the tunnel that lead to the lair entrance.
The second he reached the landing, he knew something was wrong. There were strange smells, strange sounds... things weren't right. In a panic, he raced down the tunnels towards his A'mea's surprise, skidding around corners. His heart skipped a couple beats when he saw his tunnel had been widened quite a bit. With an irritated growl, he sprinted down the tunnel towards his space.
And there he saw them. "Yellow-Eyes", the human friend of his A'mea, A'mea herself, and then a blue-skinned naka he had never seen before. "D'na! D'na!" He screeched frantically. "Da ssuppossed to ssee ae! Da finisshhed yet!"
Lykopis, "Yellow-Eyes", blinked, distracted by his noise. "Zeroun?" She turned to the hatchling, who looked surprisingly angry. It wasn't often he was so... bold, almost. "Zeroun, it's okay, we're just making sure this isn't dangerous. Your mother's worried."
Zeroun hissed, his frills standing out, looking not unlike an angry sea snake. "Da dangerouss! Iss jusst drawing! Ieo made ae!"
"Aorban..." Kandrin murred, though her own spines stood on end. She lowered her head to nuzzle Zeroun. "It is alright. They aren't going to damage it."
The fiend muttered something as she rubbed at a section of the mural. "I think as long as the line remains incomplete, it should actually be harmless. Maybe something to block it... without looking trashy."
"D'na!" Zeroun jerked away from Kandrin. "Ieo will finisshh ae! Ieo will finisshh tthhe mural for A'mea!"
It all happened very quickly. Lykopis tried to wrestle the serpentine hatchling into submission while Zephyrin raced to find a way to disrupt the casting circle without offending Zeroun. Kandrin, being too big to do anything without causing damage or injury, tried to calm her son down. In his own anger, Zeroun actually bit Lykopis on the shoulder, buying himself enough time to lung forward with a claw to dig the last little line needed to complete the circle.
The fiend's hand never had a chance to stop the claw. It simply went straight through it and into the stone.
As painful as it was, Zephyrin was too stunned and angry to scream out loud. Instead, she retaliated with the spine of the tome she had brought along, bashing Zeroun quite visciously on the snout.
And in response, the hatchling fired back with his own primal magick.
Time crawled to a near stop as the atmosphere seemed to shift. A deep glow started in the lines of the diagram, before flaring up and creating a shockwave that floored even Kandrin. The Dragon stumbled to her four feet, dazed and confused... but the feeling of the prime painted a very clear image in her mind. The carving pulsed repeatedly, humming, as the two bipeds struggled to regain their senses.
"Disrupt the circle!" Lykopis could barely hear Zephyrin over the thrumming. "We have to disrupt the circle to stop it!"
"How?" The human bellowed so she could be heard, rolling onto her side to get to her knees.
"Pick a spot! Break the line, rub out a rune, anything to change it!" Even as she yelled and bled, Zephyrin got to her feet and lurched towards the wall, feet braced against the floor as she pressed her hand against the stone. Using her own blood, for lack of a different medium, she quickly scrawled runes onto the surface of the rock, muttering in a mage's tongue as she worked.
Break it magickally. It was obviously the only thing Lykopis had managed to do without failure. Forcing herself to her feet, she managed to reach the wall as well. Placing both palms against it, she focused hard to put as much energy as she could into the circle in an attempt to unbalance it. "Get him out of here, Kandrin!" She yelled over her shoulder. "He doesn't need to be here!"
The large Dragon hesitated, even though Zeroun had done a complete about face and curled up under her, whimpering. "I'll be back to help!" She answered as she reached down to grab the hatchling in her maw. "Do what you can until I get back! Should just be a moment."
"Hurry it up, Beetle Br-" Zephyrin never got to finish her sentance. As though rebelling, the diagram pulsed again, harder, as the energy reached out to seize it's would-be assailants. The fiend swore loudly as the magick backfired, sending a painful jolt through her body.
And then she began to scream.
Lykopis couldn't really blame her. If she wasn't so shocked, and hardened from previous events, she would probably do the same thing. It didn't lessen the sense of terror, though. She watched, horrified, as the energy radiating off the wall began to eat away at her hands. First the gloves, then the skin, and then the muscle and tendons under that. It raced up her arms, across her torso and back, up her head and down her legs. By the time she finally tried to scream as well, it had alread worked it's way through her lungs and vocal cords.
Zeroun squealed, though, the horrible sound echoing in Kandrin's ears. She didn't have to have sight to know what was happening; she was practically feeling their primal signatures slowly being erased. As panic set into the Lunus, she turned and desperately crawled away, her son clinging to her snout for dear life. As if knowing what was coming, she threw her head forward to try to fling Zeroun down the hallway towards safety.
Even that was foiled. The next pulse from the wall knocked the Dragon hind-end over head, slamming her and her hatchling into the wall. Snarling in defiance, Kandrin stood, then reared, summoning lightning from her throat and trying to take aim. The lightning, however, did not exit through her maw as it usually would. Instead, it was caught and, having nowhere to go, tried to exit through Kandrin's skin.
One final pulse of energy cause Kandrin and Zeroun to dissintegrate suddenly as well. Neither had time to make any sort of noise.
As soon as it had started, it was over. The carving flared briefly as the four finished their magickal decomposition. The energy they broke down into swirled rapidly together, before being sucked into the circle. Cracks had formed along the tunnel walls, and as the pulses finally stopped, the corridor caved in, pieces of lattice giving away to allow the earth to move back into place. Nothing else remained... between the casting circle and the other finished tunnels was nothing but rubble. It would take some time to dig it all out again.
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The air was thick with blight. It was difficult to tell what time it was; the sky never seemed to change to a different shade of green no matter if it was morning or night. The small Aegis patrol followed the path through what was once Istaria's Loom, working their way around or even through the giant thorny vines.
Quite suddenly, the ground lurched and shuddered, sending some of the zombies and skeletons to the ground. Their kwellen leader roared at them, annoyed, before stopping. Sniffing loudly, he looked around.
He could smell it, he was certain. Fresh meat... still alive! Maybe they could finally find out where the rest of them were.
But there was another smell... one he hadn't smelled in a long time. "The master of this island will be pleased..." He growled, lips curling in a horrible grin. "It has been a long time... since we've killed a Dragon." Swinging his staff in the air and bellowing, he set lumbered on, giddy with excitement.
It really had been a long time. No one had seen a living Dragon since the Betrayal and the end of the war.
