Ancient Beginnings

[Doomkaiser]

James screamed as the stinging came upon his wound. "OH GAAAAAAAAAA!" He said, his knuckle in his mouth, tears forming in his eyes. "I swear if I wasn't trying to help you guys I'd punch him so hard in the face..." He said, glaring slightly at Fusion. He looked at Grublin with a mischeavous smile. "I'm going to so prank him later..." He thought, the smile turning into a very creepy smile. "Tell him when I get the chance, I'm going to smack him silly with a rubber turkey." James said to Fusion, holding back his laugh.

Edited May 20, 2012 by Doomkaiser

[Ælex]

Varaug wrote down every single detail, already planning out ways of crippling the human forces with minimal effort on their behalf. He was not surprised when he heard about their vast numbers, Humans, as he knew, were a lot like zerglings. Small mutated dog-like creatures rumoured to live in the void, that blindly hurl themselves in the line of fire and rush down the enemy with fierce rapid puncturing attacks.

 

At one point, he started thinking out loud:

'So they're not into manufacturing, eh? Undeployed vehicles are useless, so if we can find their tradeline and choke it, we'll choke them! -Varaug took a few notes of his own observation and added a few postscripts as to where they might be able to execute such an assault.

 

'Only one cannon, so a rapid assault by small enemies is advisable... -he kept writing, already listing out the different kinds of swarms of creatures he and Farengar might be able to summon and subdue into being their counter-tank force.

 

'On both sides, so a frontal or rear attack at all times. Fire... -he underlined one of the notes- ...is very effective.

 

'All of their infantry are armed with those new kinds of weaponry... -he wrote lastly and added- 'Need to invest time in armour and training in defensive physical reflective spells. The former advised, due to the possibility of enhancements. -and underlined it.

 

'This is pure gold, so far as I'm concerned, this one has access to the grounds. Supervised access, yes, but still. Something else... if he's giving us bad intel, well... -Varaug looked at James and set the quill he was levitating on fire, let it burn away and then rolled up the parchment.

 

'Fusion, thank you for translating. Could you explain to him the conditions under his staying here for any period of time, please? I've got to put this in a safe place. -he said before leaving the tent, and headed off towards the planning room.

 

===================================

 

'Right here. We'd better leave. I want to protect my hearin... I mean. It's getting late, and I'm sure our fair blacksmith could use his rest. -Ashur said while barely managing to keep a straight face. The sooner they left, the better.

'That is, if we're all done. I don't want to rush things or anything. Do we need anything from the market?

Edited May 20, 2012 by Ælex

[CYDA LUVA83]

Fusion turned to James and place her hand on the pressure points in his neck. She then pressed down on them with all the strength her dragon-human hybrid body would allow. "Please rethink that. You don't want my nails to become claws, do you?" She took her hand off of his neck and stood up, transforming back into the dragon form. She lowered her dorsal until it was flat on her back. "I wasn't joking. I may not think you're a threat, but any harm, whether it be accident, in fun, or on purpose, will not be tolerated. Eldest and Naiavee say so. THEY SAY SO!"

 

She turned to Varaug when he spoke. "You have permission to stay. BUT I'M WATCHING YOU, THEY SAY SO!" Fusion turned and ran out of the tent, trying to understand all that was going on. Everything seemed alright, but suddenly the world became brighter and the birds were screaming instead of singing.

Everyone's face had turned into a mask of horror to her, frightening faces that would not be calmed. Giant flowers tried to fall on her as she ran out the front door. She ran until she got the the ruins where she collapsed with tiredness. Why can't she go one day without seeing anything?

 

Something was walking behind her, its breath was labored and it sounded like it was limping. Spinning around, she came face to face with a vampiric creature. It's scales was silver turning brown and the once blue mane was white and falling out. The creature bared its fangs and cowered as if afraid. Fusion walked towards it, curious. this was the same vampire that had attacked her earlier, how did it get through the new barrier? It must have walked in before it was recharged.

 

Fusion stopped in front of the vampire dragon and sniffed him, wanting to see if his scent was familiar. It was... "Arget?"

 

~~~~~

 

Lydia shook her head. "We're all good." She started walking towards the back door. "If you don't mind, Morgan, we'll be exiting through the back." She walked through the door and over to the portrait. Lydia climbed through it again and waited for the others.

[Lato_Dato]

Vayli drew her attention away from her magic practice, watching Varaug monologue with an interested expression. He definitely had a good plan going; though she wished she didn't feel so useless. There was almost no place for her in the battles. She was too small and too easily harmed. If her magic failed her, or if she was ambushed like before, she was dead meat. She stewed over this in annoyed silence for a while, barely noticing Fusion's fit of insanity so deep in her gloom was she. She cared no more for the keba - uhh, human, for he was safe and mostly well. Hopefully, he wouldn't do anything stupid and get himself killed. Or that another dragon wouldn't mistake hum for a hostile keba - uhh, human, and try to eat him. No, that would not be good. She decided to stick around the human; as Varaug said, he was a veritable gold mine of information, and it would not be good for it to get eaten. She poked him with Telepathy again, and showed a brief image of a herd of animals, then herself, the keba- uhh, human, and the substance she identified as 'glue'. She smiled uncertainly at the human, hoping he had not seen or even understood the mistaken identity crisis...

----------------------------

Greilac stood as still as possible during the examination, resisting a strong urge to stomp upon the small human when he observed her, well, undersides for the presence of a maintenance hatch. She was altogether glad when he stopped examining her so closely and turned to Lydia. She gave her a grateful gaze at the saving of her dignity. The human turned and picked up a hammer, and sensing that attention was about to be turned her way, she wiped her face blank; she was playing the part of a dumb automation here, after all. The hammer made her head echo and ring oddly, and she wished she could have moved away from the pesky human and put her claws upon her head to stop the goddamn noise. luckily, the unbearable sensation did not last for long. About when he got to the back of her neck, he stopped hammering, and got out a small saw. Greilac turned a look of horror to Lydia, the blacksmith himself being unable to see this due to her face not being visible to him. The sawing was most uncomfortable, and Greilac was reaching the end of her tether when he stopped sawing. She almost sighed in releif. At leas-

 

The world blurred, flashed, and faded out for a moment. Then color returned in a burst of head aching brilliance. Greilac swayed in position, bracing herself against the carpet as she blinked. D-did I loose time? She looked to Lydia, and then to the blacksmith, who appeared to have finished his work. So soon...

Oh god, I lost time! She panicked, looking to Lydia for assurance that she was in fact fixed and the power down was normal. The blacksmith patted her side, and all thoughts of playing the dumb automation out of her mind, she looked uncertainly towards the blacksmith. He seemed happy, so that blackout must have been normal...

She smiled, wagging her tail slightly in affirmation.

"Out through the door. I predict a high chance of rain within the next ten minutes." She answered blankly, fixing the suddenly there Ashur wit a confused look. He had not been there when she blacked out...

Just how much time had she lost, again?

Deciding to drop it, she looked at Lydia, and waited for her lead. She wanted out of this place, and some time to stew upon her thoughts. Hell, some time to get used to the fact that, yes, she was in fact, fixed.

Edited May 20, 2012 by Lato_Dato

[Ælex]

'Then again... -Ashur started to say when he felt something very wrong. The magic he'd sealed within the little screw that was now attached to and primed to detonate the storage vehicle was starting to de-stabilize.

'Guys... we really should leave... RIGHT NO

Ashur was sharply cut off when an ear-shatteringly loud thunder-like noise struck them like a freight train! The windows shattered and the ground shook violently. Ashur was knocked backwards and onto the floor. His vision was blurred and everything started to ache. The shockwave was tremendous and had almost knocked him clean out of conciousness.

 

Somewhere down the street, the surrounding buildings were completely demolished and set ablaze. As for the rig, all that was left of it was a small metallic chunk of scrap. The entire thing had pre-emptively

 

==================================

 

Up the stairs, up to the door, Varaug took out his special key and unlocked the door. Once inside, he left the scroll atop the table, made an instant duplication of it with some improvised magic and a lot of otherwise wasted ink, rolled it up and left one on top of the bookshelf just in case.

 

Heading back out the door, he locked it behind himself and left the castle.

The second he poked his head outside... *BANG*

The town to his southeast lit up like a candle in the darkness.

Varaug shook his head and thought 'Not bad.

Edited May 20, 2012 by Ælex

[CYDA LUVA83]

Arget roared at Fusion, his instincts screaming that she was prey and he was predator. She cowered and ran out of the ruins, the silver vampire running after her. Fusion yelled when the dragon bit into her tail. He started to drag his feet in attempt to slow her down. She turned sharply in a circle, trying to throw him off. Arget only bit down harder on her tail and grabbed on to the apple tree with his back legs as they ran past it, effectively stopping them both. He let go of her tail and jumped on her back, using his weight to keep her down while he bared his fangs and neared her neck.

 

Fusion squirmed and shot fire from her mouth, trying to get the silver dragon off.

 

~~~~~

 

Farengar looked up from thinking to himself upon hearing a yell. Grublin walked out the front door of the fort, having heard it as well. "What's going on Farengar?" The green dragon asked. He looked where Farengar was looking and saw the vampire about to bite Fusion's neck. "That's... a vampire... Where the hell... Did we get a vampire?" Grublin asked in a high pitched voice before blacking out, landing on his side with a small thud.

 

Farengar sighed as he stood up. "I swear, if you're not gay, I'll rip my throat out. I've never seen a straight dragon that was so pathetic and feminine..." The magi ran as fast as he could to the battling dragons, firing large shards of ice at the vampire. He flapped his wings and lifted up into the air, not wanting to get an idea of what a vampire bite felt like. A shard of ice found its way into the vampire's shoulder, causing it to rear up in pain.

 

Arget lept off of Fusion and ran to the ruins, snarling at Farengar. The magi cast a slow-time spell of the vampire, causing the creature to run in 'slow-mo'.

Farengar alighted down beside Arget and used a spell to make chains appear around his legs. With the vampire in chains, he made the time around Arget return to normal. Arget stumbled head over heels in the grass. Moaning in pain from the tumble, he looked at his legs in confusion, wondering where the chains came from.

 

Looking back at Fusion, Farengar cast a spell on both her and Arget to knock them out cold. When would this drama end? Levitating the dorsal in front of him and dragging the silver behind him, Farengar made his way back to the fort. When he got there, he attached Arget's chains to a torch holder on the wall. He chained Fusion up on the other side of the room. Hopefully this would keep things quiet for a while...

 

~~~~~

 

Lydia poked her head back through the portal. "What the hell just happened!?" she yelled at Ashur. Looking around at all the carnage, she facepalmed. "You're coming home now." Lydia crawled back through the portal and shoved Ashur to his feet and throwing him with all her strength through the portal. Which was only just enough to get him through. "Come on, Greilac..."

[Ælex]

Ashur took a tumble when he landed on the other side of the portal. He lifted his face off of the stone floor and made a weird gurgling noise.

Trying to stand up, he got up on his knees, one arm tightly pressed against his abdomen, the other keeping his face off of the floor.

 

'Worth it! -he said weakly and coughed violently. Unsteadily, Ashur balanced himself back on his feet, using his free hand to lean against the nearby table. Everything was so hazy, his ears were ringing so loudly, everything ached so much. He didn't even know he was bleeding heavily on the inside.

 

It only took a few seconds before the weakness overcame him in his fragile human form, he threw up a lot of blood and collapsed backwards.

Edited May 20, 2012 by Ælex

[Lato_Dato]

Greilac looked around at the blacksmith's shop, now a complete mess. The old man himself, lying and recuperating in that corner over there; Greilac trudged over, checking that he was all right for a moment. He seemed to be fine... With a frown, she turned to Lydia. "Let's get out of here before deputy no brains destroys anything else..." she said tiredly, moving to the back room, and in turn, to the portal. She truly hoped the blacksmith would be all right; he was a decent fellow, and didn't decide to die in some freak accident caused by some maniac dragon turned human.

She appeared at the other end of the portal to a shocking scene; Ashur, ying upon the floor, blood everywhere. Oh God. "Lydia, I don't know if you're seeing what I'm seeing..." Greilac said loudly, stepping cautiously around the mess the dying dragon turned human had left on the floor.

She sighed heavily, moving away slightly. Nothing to do now but let the healer extraordinaire do her job...

[CYDA LUVA83]

Lydia looked over at Ashur as she clambored back through the portal. Damn... What was with that explosion anyway? Without waiting for Greilac, Lydia ran over to Ashur and picked him up in her arms. One arm underneath his shoulders and one arm in the crook of his knees. She ran out of the library and to the fort, traversing the dragon-sized land as fast as she could. Within the span of three minutes, Lydia had raced to the fort and out back to the medical tent. She lay Ashur down beside the cot and started to flit about the tent, gathering up medical supplies. She was too small to handle any instruments in her current form, but she could do enough.

 

"Oh Ashur, why did you do that?" She muttered as she tore the gauze to accomodate human size. The lady took his shirt off so she could bandage him and cringed when she saw the burns he had. Lydia took a cloth and dipped it in the clean bowl of water she kept at each bedside in case the patient got thirsty. No one had drank out of this bowl so it was alright. She began to wash his wounds, making sure no dirt or rock had gotten in the few burns. While wrapping the guaze around his injuries, she used her other hand to mix a few herbs together to create a tonic that would clear his lungs of any smoke or debris. She poured the tonic down his throat, holding his mouth closed so he wouldn't spit the foul tasting medicine out.

 

Lydia stood back and looked around her tent. Where had Grublin gone? He was in here earlier... Oh right, he was passed out at the entrance of the fort, she'd check that out later.

 

She took her hand and placed it on Ashur's abdomen, feeling for the hot, clammy feeling of internal bleeding. When the blood came to the skin, it gave off a large amount of heat that caused the body to sweat and dry very quickly. "Damnit..." Lydia tapped into her healing magic and sent as much as she could into Ashur's body without causing her to faint. She wasn't that experienced with internal bleeding, but she hoped her procedures would work.

"Please survive this. For both our sakes, live through this..." Lydia whisered as she drew more energy from herself and transferred it to Ashur.

Edited May 21, 2012 by CYDA LUVA83

[Ælex]

Everything felt... very weird. The grey had not completely fallen unconscious, but rather had lost all his senses in a mesh of blurs and numbness. The next thing he knew, he was lying down in the medical tent, bandaged and primed as if for surgery. But then he felt something, very unpleasant. Was it the tonics? No... the bandages? No...

'Graaaaa! Don't do thaat! -Ashur slurred weakly, nudged Lyida a little and severed the flow of energy.

'Greys like a batteries, they overload when they get overfed, but they don't feed on their own reserves to recuperate... or at least that's what pa' said. -he added and rubbed his eyes. Everything was still numb as hell, and he felt weaker than ever. Oh how he hated being a human. His form was, for some reason, particularly fragile.

 

'I'm gonna just... -he tried to shapeshift back to his normal form, only to come to a strange realization.

'Hey... Lyds... how did shapesiftin' work?

Ashur had taken a harder knock to the head than he'd imagined.

[CYDA LUVA83]

"Don't shapeshift right now, Ashur. With the pants you're wearing, you'll likely cut off your legs and some other things. Just try and relax right now. Don't move. You have... some bleeding inside your body. It won't heal without some help from my magic, alright?" Lydia restarted the current of magic, though pushing the healing energy much slower this time. She sat back as she did what she did best: healing. But Lydia couldn't help a few thoughts from crossing her mind. "Why did you do that, Ashur? It did no good and probably killed a lot of people..."

[Ælex]

'Well, I didn't expect the explosion to be that big, that's one... -he raised his index finger- 'Aaaand I also didn't think that the trigger would de-stabilize- -he raised his middle finger- -They have been trying to kill us for... oh a looong while now. -he stuck his thumb out- Aaaand I also had a bone to pick since they almost mugged me and Aster once - he pointed at his pinkie- And for s*its and giggles. Guess the joke's on me, though. -he extended his last finger and put his hand back down.

 

'Know what else? I'd do it again.

Edited May 21, 2012 by Ælex

[CYDA LUVA83]

"You didn't think the trigger would de-stabilize... Yeah, you didn't think." Lydia stopped the flow of healing magic and placed her hands on his chest and abdomen again, feeling for misplaced blood or broken bones. She felt some fractures from the explosion but the internal bleeding seemed to be cleaned up and patched nicely. Now all that was left to do was check his breathing. "Alright now, I need you to breathe deeply so I can check if the tonic did what it was supposed to do."

 

 

((Alex, are you gonna go with your idea to kill Ashur?))

Edited May 21, 2012 by CYDA LUVA83

[Ælex]

The grey did as he was told and took a few deep breaths. Other than the bizarre feeling of his lungs being wrapped in foil that the medicine had induced, there seemed to be no other problems. True it still hurt, but hey, he could breathe.

 

'Yeah, it did... I think. I mean, I'm okay for now. -he shrugged.

'I did so think! I think I thought, anyway. Thinking about thinking is hard! It's like a box inside a box inside a box inside a box inside a box inside a box inside a box... Boxception. What does that even mean?

 

'Oy vey... -he sighed. And yet within the back of his mind...

'Wherever that explosive was being transported to, there's sure to be a lot more there.

And if I can infiltrate the facility, rig that to detonate... Oooooh they gonna see it from space!

 

===(Hell to the no. I wanna blow more things up.)===

 

'Everything alright in here? -Varaug poked his head through the door in the medical tent, only to confirm his suspicions. There was the most familiar human the magi had known for ages now, lying down, looking as if he'd been run over by a train.

 

'Ooooh no, don't tell me you botched it up and the bomb went off while you were still in town! -the magi couldn't help but slap his forehead with one paw.

'Ey ey ey! I was frozen in amber for over two centuries, whaddya expect?! -Ashur yelled back.

'I expect you to have been at least a LITTLE BIT more responsible. Your idea in the first place was retarded! True, it'll divert the humans' attention from us for a while, but the risk was not worth taking, you baboon-brained psycho! You coulda' died!

 

'Thank you, captain obvious.

'Are you and Greliac okay, Lydia?

Edited May 21, 2012 by Ælex

[Lato_Dato]

Greilac watched from the door, pretending to be powered down as she listened to the entire conversation. And all the time she listened, she thought, and she observed.

I should make it a thing not to let him on any feild trips of this nature in the future if I can help it. He's psychotic. I do hope that blacksmith was OK - he was a nice sort, doesn't deserve to die. She thought, turning attention to Varaug. "Lydia was not present at the time of the explosion. I have reason to beleive that Lydia was on the other end of the portal when the explosion occurred... Over than Ashur, I... Expect no other casualties." Greilac said, not wishing to mention the blacksmith. More draconic attention would defiantly not be good for him, not while Ashur was about, anyways. So she just turned her head back to the grounds, and felt the first splatter of rain against her head. It was starting to rain. And by her observations, this one would be a doozy. She smiled, relishing the cool feel of the rain after two hundred years of imprisonment.

Edited May 21, 2012 by Lato_Dato

[Doomkaiser]

When the blast rocketed through next to the lake, Doom looked around and looked at the pretty colours. "Coooooool!" He said, momentarily distracted from the moment at hand, which were demoralizing him every second. "I want to shake the dragon's hand who did that." Doom said, his eyes wide with anticipation for anything else that could happen.

-----------------------

James flinched a bit when Vayli touched his mind and a slight smile which turned into a smirk when he saw that she had accidently called him food. He has had that happen a lot, so he shrugged it off, still smirking at her and making the weirdest of faces.

[Krissi2197]

Keisha, pretty much zoned out, looked around, suddenly coming back to reality. "Okay... So... Wait..." She sighed softly, shaking her head. "I'm still confused. What are we... Or you... Supposed to do about this whole Dark Daddy coming back?"

 

((Really bad WB. My apologies.))

Edited May 21, 2012 by Krissi2197

[Ælex]

Varaug sighed deeply, gave Ashur a glare, gestured with one hand and snarled:

'Don't get yourself killed! -then left the tent, and strolled outside for a bit. The sky was as dark as it could get, and laden with stars of all sizes.

The magi stopped and looked up at them for a moment in quiet contemplation.

'We all have our purpose... -he figured, sat down and perked his ears up- Is mine to constantly dodge and intercept absurdly powerful forces out to destroy all that I care for? -he lied down and looked at his paws.

 

Know what? Whoever you are "Living King of Dearkness", bring it! We'll be ready for you. -he clenched his claws and bared his teeth, then lay his head on the ground.

 

Varaug wasn't sleepy... No. He needed to sleep for another reason.

It took a bit, but he finally felt himself drifting off. He closed his eyes, and felt the weirdest most ridiculous way imaginable for a moment, as if something was tugging him by the tail for a while, before he awoke in the before manifestation that Death had conjured up to show the fate of the grounds, should they fail to defeat their foe.

 

'Yes? -a voice asked impatiently behind Varaug.

'I did what you asked, they know already.

'I can see that. -the Reaper replied flatly.

'But... I need your help with further strengthening our defences.

Death remained silent for a few moments, then tapped the ground with one foot.'Speak.

'You keep records of every soul that passes into the void, right? -Varaug asked, that's what the books said anyway.

'Yes.

'I need to know, has an old friend of mine, Lita by name, Guardian of Nature by species, passed through?

Death manifested a large black tome in front of himself, listed through it in several seconds and closed it.

'No.

'So she's alive... -Varaug thought, torn between being overjoyed, and afraid of what might be happening to her.

'Yes. And no, I cannot tell you where she is. -the Reaper nodded.

'I... alright. -Varaug decided to drop the rant about how he didn't like having his thoughts read like an open book.

'Leave, Harbinger. -Death waved one hand, and Varaug awoke, just as clammy and cold as he felt last time he'd spoken to the Reaper.

 

He got up and headed towards the castle entrance, opened the door, and looked around. He paced through the main chamber a little until he found Fiyara.

'I have something you might want to see. -Varaug came right out with it, since he hadn't the slightest clue how to roundabout the subject of Lita.

Edited May 22, 2012 by Ælex

[Lato_Dato]

Fiyara glanced back to varaug with frowning intrest, unwilling to simply drop what she was doing. Making sure the cold spell stayed in one room was no easy feat, and Fiyara had a sneaking suspicion Farengar had been slacking on his end to study for some reason. She'd have to get back to him on that later if this was so; didn't want the food going off now, or anytime soon. After remaining silent for a few more moments in her maintenance, she was finished. Huh. Apparently her suspicions were unfounded; it wasn't the castle that was chilly, it was herself. She chuckled.

Apparently it is I that am slacking off! she jibed herself, looking back to Varaug, glad that she hadn't had to do anything about that spell this time; Even though ice magic was her apparent specialty, it was more for sheer strength in the area than anything else.

"Yeah, Var?" Fiyara said, interested now. Really, anything to just stave off boredom and the possibility of a complete disaster for a few more hours was an alright thing in Fiyara's mind.

Edited May 22, 2012 by Lato_Dato

[Ælex]

'It's... it, um... Well yeah. It's best that I actually show you. -he concluded. True that it'd raise more questions than it would answer, but then his words alone couldn't possibly be enough to go on considering the matter is Lita's fate.

 

He touched the side of his skull, then with one talon slowly tugged out a silvery strand that seemed to be leaking right from where the tip met the surface. It continued up until it was about 30cm in length and then stopped, following Varaug's finger like a streamer attached to one end.

 

'I hate doing that. -he mumbled under his nose and used his other free claw to conjure up a runic circle of sorts on the floor between them. It was roughly two to three meters in diameter.

 

'This... -Varaug indicated the silvery strand in his hand- ...is a memory. As pure as they come. Or a duplication of one, anyway.

He dropped it in the middle of the circle he'd formed, and the scene unfolded before them. Everything that Varaug'd seen and heard in his last meeting with the Reaper. Every spoken word and every detail, which was to say, nothing else but the fact that she was alive was played out, ending where the magi had woken up.

It was strange for him, he'd only once done that before.

'Do I really fidget that much?

 

Once it was over, the circle faded away.

'I know next to nothing about this entity... but he's already proven he knows things I don't. Whether or not he's wrong, I don't know, but if he's right, then we can save Lita. -Varaug glanced at the floor. Fiyara probably figured he was going mental for having such visions.

Edited May 22, 2012 by Ælex

[CYDA LUVA83]

Lydia was about to smack Ashur's face, more out of her own frustration than anything else, but she stopped herself and put her hand down. "I may just confine you to this tent on bed rest, I don't care if you are older than I. No more explosions, Ashur! This isn't medieval times, they'll cause more problems than they'll solve." She stood up and took off her clothes, shape shifting back into a dragon after she set the dress and other garmets down.

Gently picking up Ashur in her paws, Lydia set him down on the cot beside him. "Just stay put, alright? Some of your ribs are fractured and moving around will not help their healing at all. If you get cold, tell me and I'll get some blankets. And remember; I stay in here almost all day, any help you need I'll provide, okay?" The white dragon looked out the flap of the tent. "I have to go get Grublin, I'll be right back. And please... don't go anywhere." She walked out of the medical tent and through the fort, stopping when she came to the passed out green dragon in the doorway.

"Grublin..." Lydia pushed her nose underneath Grublin's belly scales, nudging forward until his body rested on her upper neck. She raised her head and let him slide down to her shoulders, effectively picking him up. "Alright, boy, let's get you back in bed..." She mumbled as she carried him back to the tent. The white dragon lowered her neck and let Grublin slide off and onto the cot. She wondered why the green dragon had fainted. Perhaps Farengar knew.

"Farreenggaaarrrr. Why did Grublin black out?"

 

~~~~~

 

Farengar sat outside the resting area, very tired. He wished he could go to bed, but there always seemed to be something going on. All of a sudden, a sharp pain struck his head like a physical attack. He cringed and covered his head with his paws. Lydia's voice rang through his mind. The magi sighed. "Lydia, you know I can't telepath well, now come in here and talk like a sensible dragon!" He yelled out the back door.

An irritated Lydia walked out of the front of the tent, growling at the magi. "What is it that you just cannot tell me through telepathy?" She asked.

"I already told you, Lyds. I can't use it. It hurts my head. And besides, just follow me." He said, turning to open he door into the Resting Area, but he was stopped short when Lydia spoke up.

"I can't, I have patients, Farengar. Grublin may have a concussion, you how easily he bruises." Lydia hissed.

"He'll be alright for a little bit. You know that dorsal dragon, Fusion? Well, her mate came back. The vampire."

"How'd he get through the barrier?"

"Must have gotten through before we set it up."

"Soooo... what's the problem?" Lydia asked, not really knowing where this was going.

"They're nuts, Lydia!" Farengar yelled.

Lydia shrank back, not used to him raising his voice at her on any serious matter. They always yelled to each other if they were having playful banter, but being serious was a completely different thing.

"Gah... I'm sorry, it's just that... They were fighting outside. It was crazy out there, Lyds. They were animals! I... I broke it up; knocked them both out with a spell. It should last for a few more hours unless their willpower is much more than I estimated." Farengar sighed. "If you could be a vet for a little bit and see if any of the wounds they got during their little fight are serious. You never know." He looked at the white dragon, she seemed deflated. Her head hung and her wings drooped at her sides.

"Perhaps in a little bit. They may be living relics from the past, but my first concern are the dragons we know and love. You may have read about them in that little history book of yours, but do you really know them? Do you really think that you are their friends. You've built a fantasy up for yourself, Farengar. I've seen you when you think you're alone, you go over that book like it's the Torah, or Qur'an, or Bible, or... or..." She flapped her wings, sending feathers flying. "You're just as crazy as they are! You act as though you live in those times, acting out parts in the book and playing pretend!"

Farengar tackled Lydia, forcing her to the ground and keeping a paw clamped over her mouth. "Do you want the whole castle to hear? I'll be kicked out of the Grounds if they know." He whispered.

Lydia flapped her wings wildly, enraged that Farengar would shut her up like that. She bonked him in the back of her head with her left wing, trying to get him to let go. To her relief Farengar took his paw off of her snout, allowing her to breathe and talk. "It's not a castle, it's a glorified fort. Another way you try to be like them, by calling our home a castle. Their home was, ours is not. Why do you pretend like that Farengar?"

The magi exhaled and looked at the second floor of the fort. "I don't know, Lydia..." He looked down at the ground. "I guess I'm just so obsessed with getting this place up and running again, and you know I haven't been getting enough sleep, multiply that by the fact we're getting raided more and more often by the humans, our food is running short, frequent attacks from the Forbidden Forest were almost obliterating us to nothing, my cloak is torn, my head hurts, I met my brother for the very first time, my wing may have a pulled muscle, there are crazy dragons passed out in our Resting Area, my brother turns out to have a thing for Fiyara and she for him so I'm basically being thrown out the window!" The magi laid down beside Lydia and nuzzled her, apologetic for yelling again. "I'm sorry, I've just been feeling at the end of my rope lately. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Will you please look at them? Figure out why they're like this? I don't want you to get close to them, they might hurt you, especially Arget..."

"Alright, right after I tend to Grublin. As I already said, he bruises easy and I want to make sure he's okay."

"He's just fainted, Lydia, he didn't walk through a nuclear explosion! You're just like a doting mother."

"Perhaps I'm like a doting mother because we all practically raised him, Farengar. I'll check up on Fusion and Arget in a minute." The white dragon said as she got up and walked back into her medical tent, leaving a stunned Farengar in her wake.

 

"Pfft. Doting mother, I'm calling it. She babies him. That's why he acts so feminine, he's around girly women all the time." The magi mumbled as he walked out of the fenced in area and back into the fort.

[Ælex]

*BANG*

The thunderclap of an explosion pierced the air only moments before the shockwave hit Raiden and his new acquaintance. The neotropical watched in awe as the sky to the east lit up. He'd never seen an explosion happen before.

'No'tookit'nada! Leg it! -he screamed at Alonzo and dashed off in the direction of the castle. The fires behind him illuminated the skies, casting the clouds in a sinister shade of bloody red and black. He remembered that... it was just like when he was very little when the demons had attacked the grounds. He didn't know what it was, but was certain it was bad.

 

The neotropical ran and ran as long as his legs could bare, dodging and bounding trees or obstacles that got in his way, at times resorting to rapid shapeshifting to fit through some nooks and crannies to save time, which ofcourse, only made him even more exhausted.

 

By the time he reached the edge of the woods, he was hyperventilating and foaming at the mouth. He just couldn't go on running any more, so he stopped and hesitantly looked back. The explosion was nothing more than a small candleflame-sized spot in the distant land. He was surprised how far away it was, considering how large it looked when he first saw it.

 

'Losing health units... must rest... -Raiden wheezed, and fell to one side. All he could see was the grass and a nearby tree. All he could feel was the cool ground soothing his aches from severe exhaustion, and the light tickle of the grassblades around him. However, he did hear something out of the ordinary...

It sounded like, voices.

 

"They're nuts, Lydia!" -was what he could barely make out, amongst the wave of miscellaneous banter.

Still, the neotropical remained lying down for a few more minutes, until the aches went away, at least enough so for him to even walk. He stood up and looked around, only to make a joyous realization.

 

He'd reached the grounds.

 

Or, what was left of em'...

'This isn't how it was. It's not what pa' said it would be.

For a moment he pondered the option that he'd gotten the coordinates wrong, but the place seemed so familiar that the doubts died out just as quickly as they came.

What a mess, it looked as if only two of the castle's floors survived. Ironically, the front door looked unscaved. Perhaps there was someone from the old 'clan' still there. He didn't know who this 'Lydia' person might be, neither did he see where the voice originated from, but a main door is a main door, he might as well use it before another cataclysm goes and tears the rest of the ruins asunder.

 

Raiden headed off towards the main entrance, only to be halted after a few steps. He felt some sort of invisible physical force pushing him back from entering the area. A kind of wall or barrier-like magic was placed there. It was more powerful than a dragon was strong, and after a few minutes of trying he yelled 'Skya'te! I LIVED HERE ONCE!!! LET ME IN!!!

 

A sharp pain shot up his spine and into his cranium for just a moment, before the physical force stopped pushing him backwards. At that instant, he felt as if something had read his mind and welcomed him back. He couldn't explain it, but was sure that it'd happened. He then proceeded into the grounds and to the main entrance. Nudging the double doors open, he peeked inside and called out sheepishly:

'Haaalloooooooo~?

 

====================================

 

'But that's the joy of it, causing problems for those that would wish to.. oh I dunno.. -he made a hand gesture depicting slicing something with a knife- ..skin us for dragon hides! Or.. -he made another gesture depicting a stereotypical evil scientist laughing maliciously at his moment of triumph- ..HARVEST OUR MAGICAL ABILITIES FOR ELECTRIC ENERGY?! Muwahahahahahahahaaaa!

 

'I for one don't see the bad side to blowing them up to smithereens.

Ashur crossed his arms and sighed. 'But.. I'll try to avoid doing it again. -he promised glumly and crossed his fingers.

It was a promise he knew he would break at his very first opportunity.

 

He remained still while the yelling ensued. Ashur always did pride himself on having sharp hearing, so it didn't come as a surprise that he managed to overhear everything the two said. Farengar was keeping secrets... but what peaqued his interest was the bit about Arget.

 

'What's this about a demented vampire and Fusion? -he asked Lydia when the commotion was over.

Edited May 24, 2012 by Ælex

[CYDA LUVA83]

Lydia blanched, had he overheard everything? While in human form Lydia always had terrible hearing. Perhaps that was because she had terrible hearing in the first place. She looked over the wounds Grublin had obtained from the Slayer Master, they were not stitched up yet. Who had brought him in from the ruins anyway? Then again, Grublin had several scars from deeps wounds he received. the stitches didn't seem to help the scar tissue go away much. Perhaps she should try gauze this time?

 

Lydia looked over at Ashur and sighed, if he had heard everything, she might as well tell him. "Apparently, one of your friends, Fusion, had got into a little fight with some vampire by the name of Arget. From what Farengar kept saying before we broke you guys out: Arget and Fusion were once close mates, then their one and only hatchling laid an egg while the two were on their belated honeymoon.

"They came home when they found out, cutting the honeymoon short. Niomi, Roran, and Arget got into this huge fight. Arget speared Roran through the chest, killing him. But Niomi then attacked and killed Arget, her father, for killing her new mate. After that, Niomi brought Roran back to life. A few hours later; the God, Zeal, brought Arget back to life, but as a vampire.

"After a while, Arget was condemned to the Forbidden Forest. From what Farengar says, Fusion went completely insane after a horrible accident involving her father. Adding that stress to the amounts of pain and depression from losing your mate... I'd say heart and head broken." Lydia took another breath, having spoken all that in only three.

 

"Fusion was locked inside the amber with you guys. Arget was trapped in the Forest. They get together, hardly recognize each other, instincts overpower logic and reasoning, big fight. That's what happened in a nutshell. They're locked in the Resting Area right now. And Farengar doesn't want to keep them in the Grounds." Lydia said as she wrapped gauze tightly around the wounds in Grublin's flanks and sides.

"What do you think?" She asked Ashur as she ran her hand over Grublin's snout, petting him as one would do a small child.

 

~~~~~

 

Farengar nearly jumped out of his skin when Raiden peeked into the fort. "GAAHHH WEIRDDRAGONBRIGHTGREENUNFAMILIARWHATTHEHELL." Boy, he needed some sleep. "Ah... What... Where... Who are you?" the magi asked after he had calmed down. Seriously, who was this Neotropical and where had he come from? He certainly wsn't all that familiar, and the only Neotropical that Farengar knew of was from readin the history book: Marissa, Epoch's mate. Perhaps he had missed the part about this one.

[Ælex]

'I think... -he paused, glanced at the floor for a second then back at Lydia, at a loss for words from what he'd heard- ..somebody has issues. -the grey's eyes widened for a second while his mind processed the information.

 

'I only ever had one offspring and I'd be happy to know I'd be a grandpatron. I mean... -he raised both hands and made the "mind blown" gesture before continuing- 'To spear one through the chest! That's baseline murder that is! ...why? What the actual !@#$?! -he still couldn't find any logic in the entire described predicament.

 

'Its like uuuh, one of those soapy uhhh... -he paused and snapped his fingers a few times till the words came to his mind- '..those soapy drama crisis books. Don't get me wrong, I feel for Fusion. She musta' gone through hell twice over if it's true...

 

'Ooooh boy... Varaug is not gonna like having a vampire in the grounds. From what he told me he was assaulted by a pack o' doze once in the woods and was nearly killed. Also he lost one of his friends to one, and his mentor was rumoured to have been slain by several of those, but that's not certain...

 

=====================================

 

Raiden flinched when Farengar spazzed out just then. He certainly was one very strange magi... but hey, at least he hadn't tried to claw his face off yet, unlike what he'd seen in the woods so far. It was a welcome change.

 

'Well, you pretty much summed it up right there! -Raiden barely held back his laughter- 'I get the feeling you're a riot at parties.

 

'Raiden Stormleaf. My father lived here once and I've been looking for this place for a loooooong... LOOOOOOONG goddamn time. It's feels like it's been over nine thousand moons since I left Nova Scotia. -he pondered the exact amount of years.

 

'Probably less. What happened to this place? Pa' said it was glorious! "The dragon training grounds! A utopian home for the brave-hearted and the devoted. She stands like a stone in the middle of the ocean, enduring the raging sea storms, unfaltering and undying. Yet she also delights in the peaceful warm summer's waters when things quiet down." -he quoted Ashur's words from over two hundred years ago.

 

'This is no stone, it's a crumbling stack of mouldy chunks. What did this?!

Edited May 24, 2012 by Ælex

[CYDA LUVA83]

"Apparently the hathling had just became an adult, still considered a teenager by human standards. So, I can sort of understand Arget's reaction, even if it was a bit much. Besides, dragons don't even have a set government, it's not like we have laws..." Lydia shook her head, dispelling her thoughts. "So he was attacked by vampires? That really sucks, sorry for being blunt. Anyway, do you need anything? Food, blankets, painkillers?" She asked, desperate for something to do.

 

~~~~~

 

"Gah... um. A utopia? Varaug said something like that..." He took a step back from the unfamiliar dragon, slightly intimidated by the Neotropical's energy. "It hasn't been that way for years. It used to thrive, yes... But now all we're trying to do is survive, to make it out safely. If you haven't noticed, humans have been the dominant species for quite a while now. Instead of leaving us alone they frequently hunt us and have us in farms." Farengar looked at the dragon with curiosity. "You said something about 'pa'? Who's pa?"

Edited May 25, 2012 by CYDA LUVA83