The Bloodline of Torch

[Isirion]

On the other end of the vine Jaxon froze. At first he had hoped the noise he had made had gone unnoticed, but the gentle pulling on the vine convinced him that the opposite had happened. At least it was not the thieving ghost, Jaxon thought and got up. He smiled in an apologetic way, not sure if Alzira could see it, he added a spoken apology too: "I am so sorry Lady Alzira, but I had to put up a trap for the thieving ghost. I even had to use vines from the forest because some time ago the damned ghost stole all the ropes we had. Please don't be mad at me. And please, please, please don't tell my mum!"

Edited August 15, 2012 by Isirion

[Alzira]

Alzira was startled although... somehow she had expected something like this - Jaxon trying to catch a thief - but not in her room!

"I'm not mad, but exhausted. So tell me: Do you want to spend the rest of the night here, waiting for the ghost who might have been scared away or do you like to set the trap again tomorrow night? Either way I'm really tired and I would like to sleep now", she grumbled.

Edited August 15, 2012 by Alzira

[Isirion]

Jaxon sighed with relief that Alzira showed no intention of telling his mum. Smiling as brightly as Alzira's candle he went to check on his trap, finding it in the process of being slowly disarmed by Sappo's tongue. Remembering what Alzira had told him earlier about the little dragons reaction to the orange stuff in its uncooked state, Jaxon sped across the room and pulled Sappo away from the sticky vine. A second later Jaxon was nursing his thumb where the Pygmy had bitten him and he joked: "We should use him as a guard dog. I'll bet Sappo will try to bite the thieving ghost too when it comes! Isn't that worth missing some sleep?"

Edited September 18, 2012 by Isirion

[Alzira]

Alzira chuckled "I'd like to see that! But are you sure that after all this ruckus the thief will still try to steal something out of this room?"

Finally noticing Sappo's smacking as he tried to lick some of the orange stuff that sticked to his nose Alzira instantly gave Jaxon her candle and took a small scarf out of the leather bag. Then she grabbed Sappo and tried to clean the orange stuff away from his face. Hopefully he wouldn't get sick...

Sappo himself didn't like beeing grabbed again and tried to free but Alzira knew what she was doing. This time he had to stay which wasn't so bad either. Now that he had tasted the orange stuff he finally noticed the missing component. There were no insects and without them the stuff smelled strange and tasted undelightful. His attempts to get rid of it caused Alzira's wiping attack.

Eventually she finished and Sappo was put on the bed. There he streched and then curled into a small ball - occasionally checking his surroundings.

 

"So with this little misunderstanding solved, let's hide and wait for the thief"

Edited August 15, 2012 by Alzira

[Isirion]

Jaxon nodded and blew out the candle, afterwards he hid himself with Alzira in the kitchen. Together they waited in silence for the thieving ghost to make its appearance. The ghost however took its time; midnight passed and still there was no sign of it. Another hour went by, Alzira had long snored off to sleep on Jaxon's shoulder and still nothing tried to steal the bait-blanket. Jaxon felt himself growing more and more tired from the wait, he bravely fought boredom and sleep but in the end he lost and fell asleep.

 

A bit later

 

A hooded figure appeared near the Dragon stables and looked carefully around before it sneaked into them. Inside the stables the hooded figure checked the feeding-throughs for food that a dragon with a belly-wound may stomach without making its condition worse. However, except for a bottom-layer of odd-looking orange-coloured mash the throughs were empty. The hooded figure eyed the mash suspiciously and decided not to test that stuff on a wounded dragon. Without making a sound the figure left the stables and sneaked into the tavern to check the kitchen for left-over food. A mouth-watering smell came from a large pot on the dying fire and the hooded figure curiously peered into it: Inside the pot simmered a one hundred percent odd-orange-stuff-free and absolutely delicious looking soup made from the left-overs of a dinner that must have been likewise delicious. The hooded figure grinned, grabbed the pot and vanished with it on the spot. The figure reappeared with the pot in front of a dragon that looked like it suffered not only from hunger and its belly-wound but from halluzinations too. Leaving the pot and an utterly confused dragon behind, the figure vanished without a word.

 

This time it reappeared in the White Dragon Room and with the air of someone that was strangely familiar with the surroundings, it rummaged as quiet as possible through the drawers where the healing equipment was usually stored. There was no telling what exactly the hooded figure was searching for, only that it sure as hell was not the mousetrap that Jaxon had placed some time ago in the bottom drawer. In place of the bait the boy had put a rolled-up bandage. The hooded figure fought the desire to laugh out loud and retrieved the rolled-up bandage without springing the trap. A few seconds later an evil grin spread across the hidden face of the figure and it picked up the trap. After noiselessly checking a few rooms the figure placed the trap beside its originator in the Royal Blue Room. Still wearing an evil grin the hooded figure pulled at the vine as if something had triggered the sticky-vine-trap before vanishing on the spot. Jaxon awoke slightly disorientated, his hand searched for the candle but found the mousetrap instead: "ARRRGGGHHH!!!"

Edited September 18, 2012 by Isirion

[Alzira]

"Eh?" Alzira sat up alarmed, her arms moving forward, punching the air... and something soft. What did she hit this time ? She usually hit something when she woke apruptly. Her dragons knew that by then and always kept a distance from her limbs when she was sleeping. At first Alzira couldn't see a thing but finally her eyes adjusted a bit so she managed to recognise a familiar shape. Reaching for her candle she called for Sappo and his enlightening breath. Finally she could tell what she had hit. It had been Jaxon - again!

[Isirion]

Distracted by the pain in his hand, Jaxon had not even noticed that Alzira had hit him. His attention was still on his hand as the light of the Sappo-lit-candle illuminated his whole body. Now he saw that it had been a mousetrap that had caught his hand and broke three of his fingers. Even in the flickering light the boy recognized that the trap that had caught his hand was none other than the one he had put earlier in one of the drawers of the White Dragon Room one floor below. Waking everyone in the house, who had somehow managed to still stay asleep, Jaxon screamed again; this time out of pure rage: "ACCURSED GHOST!!!"

Edited August 27, 2012 by Isirion

[FlowerOwl]

FlowerOwl yawned at the piercing screech from below. "What time is it?" She moaned, stretched and almost crashed onto her vampire hatchling whom was laying on one of the pillows, seeming to have just woken. Though, unlike Dreena, FlowerOwl had been up for some time... In a dream like state in her thoughts. FlowerOwl slid her feet out of bed and into the soft slippers she'd left besides her bed before she fell asleep. Dreena yawned before stretching out her claws and hopping wearily after FlowerOwl, whom was standing up and stretching her arms. "It's a beautiful night," FlowerOwl whisphered as she looked out the window at the moon. FlowerOwl sighed and left her room and trended to where the sound was coming from with Dreena following closely behind.

"Oh," FlowerOwl said, halfly amused and halfly asleep,"Well, serves you right for what you did earlier." She giggled, and decided to do so until she went back to bed. Dreena looked at FlowerOwl in confusion, but decided to try to react somewhat the same. She blew a small flame with agreement to FlowerOwl's statement, and stomped with joy.

 

[Isirion]

After FlowerOwl had marched out of the room Jaxon stood there dumbfounded for a while. Suddenly he turned with a tragic look, as if he had beein stabbed in the back after some heroic deed, to Alzira. In the light of the candle the boy showed her his broken fingers that were still caught in the mousetrap and proclaimed: "I tried at the risk of my health to protect her from the thieving ghost and instead of being grateful she insulted me like my sister did in the forest? I can't help thinking that both of them got possessed by the mischievious ghost from the haunted forest. That is the only explanation why they attacked me without a reason! But I will not give up on them. I remember my mother telling me about a week ago that she had sent for an exorcist. I hope he arrives soon and when he does that he drives out these damned ghosts before everyone here gets possessed!" With these words he glared intently at Alzira as if to spot a sign of ghostly possession and asked suspiciously: "You are not possessed - are you?"

Edited September 15, 2012 by Isirion

[Alzira]

Alzira was glad she hadn't hurt the boy but nevertheless he was injured, so she reached for some bandages she had left in her bag. She kept them there, especially since she traveled with Sappo. Then she realized what he had asked her. "Posessed? Me? I waited with you the whole night!" Possibly because she had just been woken Alzira was really offended. Sappo sensed her mood and blew a little flame at Jaxon. Maybe it was sheer luck or strategy but the short burst just didn't set his trousers on fire, only blackened them.

[Isirion]

After Sappo nearly set his trousers on fire, Jaxon felt the nearly burning urge to change the target of his accusations again: "I am sorry Lady Alzira, it is clear to me now that you are too nice to be possessed by the mischievious ghost, but after getting bitten twice and now nearly burned, I fear that there is a strong possibility that your Pygmy is possessed!" The boy sounded utterly sincere while saying these words, even more so as they were accentueted with whimpers caused without a doubt by the pain from his broken fingers.

Edited September 18, 2012 by Isirion

[Alzira]

"I'm glad you changed your mind. However, I don't think Sappo is possessed. He's a small dragon who defends his stuff no matter what others may think of it. The first time you were bitten, you woke him, the second time you saved him from that orange stuff, true, but as far as I know he considered it his orange stuff and therefor he fought back. And last but not least he defended me because you were angry at me. As you told me before he is somewhat like a guard dog - yes - a small fiery guard dog."

Alzira paused, then she considered "I'm sorry I didn't tell you more about Sappo's personality, but you have to admit that we know each other just for a short time. There was simply not enough time." After that she took a deep breath, readied the bandages and reached for Jaxons hand: "And now let me see your fingers and set them straight. Tomorrow Susurro can take a look at them and speed up the healing."

 

[Isirion]

With Alziras help and a fair amount of subdued whimpering Jaxon finally managed to free his brokens fingers. While Alzira worked on setting them straight the boy desperately tried not to whine like his little sister usually did. To distracted himself from the pain he talked through gritted teeth about this and that: "So this small fiery guard dog - where did you get him from? No don't tell me! I think I know how: Someday you walked through the forest and suddenly it jumped up and bit your finger! And that White Dragon of yours - Susurro - I bet he ran to you and tried to heal you the moment you got injured..." Jaxon's voice trailed off, his thoughts dispersed even more than before and without a warning he fainted.

 

Meanwhile on the balcony of the self-same room

 

Still wearing its evil grin the hooded figure had watched and eavesdropped on the whole scene it had caused by carefully relocating the mousetrap from the White Dragon Room. However after listening to the most recent conversation the expression on the face of the hooded figure changed almost instantly. The evil grin disappeared and the figure seemed deeply absorbed in thought. Finally it repeated a few words with a low voice as cold as ice: "White Dragon...Susurro...healing"

Edited September 18, 2012 by Isirion

[Alzira]

Alzira didn't notice Jaxon's laments or even his passing out, instead she concentrated on fixing his fingers. That was quite a wearing task because she was so sapped. At last she wrapped the last piece of bandage around his wrist. "Jaxon, move! It's time to go to sleep in your room and I need some sleep as well. After breakfast we'll seek Susurro's help." With this words she shoved the perplexed boy out of her room. Finally she could surrender to sleep.

[Isirion]

Maybe having been ordered around almost all his live by his sweet, but resolute mother, Jaxon's body reacted without him being conscious. His feet moved on their own and carried the boy along the familiar way to his bedroom where he slumped unceremoniously onto the bed and slept peacefully until dawn.

 

Meanwhile at the edge of the haunted forest

 

Clad in robes of a magnificent silvery-white, a tall man with black, silver-streaked hair and a goatbeard entered the forest. His robes were adorned with many different talismans, ranging from simple, carved symbols of protection to complex woven charms. His age was difficult to guess, because even if their was silver in his hair, his face looked youthful and was without visible lines or wrinkles. The man focused his concentration on the path before him and with a loud, resonating voice commanded: "Spirits of evil, I command thee be gone and return no more lest I shall send thee to the fiery depths of hell!"

 

Confident that for now his evil-repelling performance had scared away every spirit in the vicinity, the man fearlessly entered the domain of the mischievious ghost. Alas to his upcoming misfortune the mischievious was no ghost at all, but a female Ochredrake by the name of Telia Kuran-Kiryu that his incantation had rudely awoken from her sleep...

Edited October 4, 2012 by Isirion

[isabella3]

Telia was annoyed that she was woken from her sleep, so she crept silently to the ground and to a nearby river, she looked around and spotted a large, rather odd looking Quartz rock.Which she decided would be perfect for carving into a shape she needed, so she trotted over and tried hauling it out it wouldn't budge so, she grabbed a vine off a nearby tree and tied it tightly around the rock then after ages of pulling she got the rock free and hauled it all the way to a tree there she used her tail and claws to carve it into the shape of a ghost girl, she then

noticed nearby a bush with dark,black coloured berries on it she grabbed a few of those and used them to make a bit of colour for the ghost girls hair.After she was satisfied with her work, she dragged the "ghost girl" to the path and dug a hole in front of it and covered it wish a mossy layer above twigs, and waited for the human to come, then Telia scrambled up a tree and waited.

Edited October 10, 2012 by isabella3

[Isirion]

Striding along the main path, the exorcist radiated confidence as the sun radiates heat. He was sure his incantation earlier had cleansed the forest of evil spirits and so his thoughts moved on to the second part of his assignment: Not only to get rid of the mischievious ghost haunting the forest, but exorcising the thieving ghost in the tavern too. To solve this additional problem he would have to perform a sacred rite to encircle the whole place with a protective spell. This task would cost him a great amount of spiritual energy and his clients an even greater amount of gold. The exorcist nodded to himself, it was true he charged a lot for his services, but it was justified as there had never been a ghost that he had not been able to exorcise...

 

Suddenly the exorcist stopped; his eyes had noticed an eerie glimmer on the path he was about to take. Illuminated by the faint moonlight that shone through the trees, a ghost girl with black hair stood silent in a bed of moss as if she had risen from a musty grave. Disbelieving his eyes the exorcist screamed at the ghost that should not be here: "Foul spirit of the earth, I command you be gone!" Of course the 'spirit' made of transparent quartz crystal did not react and so the exorcist drew nearer, trying another incantation: "Wandering soul, I command you return to the place wherest thou comest!" Still there was no reaction whatsoever from the 'soul' and coming closer another step the exorcist fell into the well-disguised trap. After landing very uncomfortable and soiled with earth and dirt on his backside at the bottom of the hole, the exorcist screamed at the top of his lungs: "Whoever did this, I command thee get me out of here!"

 

The voice of the exorcist, honed by countless incantations, easily carried out of the hole he was stuck in into the starlit sky above the forest, where a young owner was having a conversation with the two full-grown dragons; a female Ice and a male Hellfire; that accompanied and carried him through the night.

Edited October 8, 2012 by Isirion

[Orion97]

"I'm still not sure why you'd want to be a dragon" Alsia spoke to Orion, whom was flying on her back. "Like I was saying, you can fly, and even breath ice, or in Valerian's case, fire." "You have hands though!" exclaimed Valerian, a young hellfire flying alongside them, and Alsia's mate. "I'd rather be able to fly, and I've seen you use your wingtips to some extent." "I can see what you're getting at and I understand, I do love flying and breathing ice has uses." Alsia interjected. "Exactly." Then a small gray dragon popped out of Orion's bag and looked around, terrified of the height they were at, instantly hid back inside the bag with a frightened squeak. Hearing yells, Valerian looked at the others and said "What on earth is that?"

Alsia listened carefully. "Sounds like someone's stuck or something, want to go help?" They all listened for the yelling and determined the source. "I see a good landing area, right near him." "Sounds good, let's go." said Orion. After they landed they walked near the hole and began to question him on how he got in there in the first place.

Edited October 10, 2012 by Orion97

[Isirion]

The exorcist shuddered in his hole, as he felt the impact caused by the landing of the two full-grown dragons. Additional bits of earth and moss to fell down and the mood of the exorcist darkened accordingly as his clothes got soiled even more. However, as he heard a few seconds later the sound of voices above him, he stopped brooding and started to get his hopes up. Even if two of the voices sounded like incarnations of fire and ice, the third voice definitely belonged to a human. Changing his own voice to a pleading tone, the exorcist exclaimed: "Whoever you are, I fell into this trap and can't get out on my own. Please help me!"

Edited October 8, 2012 by Isirion

[Orion97]

"Sorry if we scared you!" called out Alsia. "We'll get you out in a moment" turning to Orion she said "grab the end of my tail and I'll lower you down so you can help him and then I'll pull both of you up." "Alright, that will work" Orion breathed as he grabbed her tail and lowered himself into the hole. "Grab my hand" , the man nodded and grabbed his hand. "Alsia, pull us out now please." "Alright, now that you're out of there, might we ask how you got down there in the first place and what you are doing around here, they say it's haunted." Before the dirt covered man could respond Valerian spoke up "Haunted?" he said with a chuckle, "right, spooooky ghosts, I'll believe in those when humans can fly...no offense Orion." "None taken." Then Valerian spoke to the man they helped out of the hole. "I'm sorry, where's our manners, I'm Valerian, the ice dragon is my mate, Alsia, and the human is Orion, and the hatchling hiding in Orion's bag is a Gray dragon named Emeraldan, he's shy but friendly." "When he's not nibbling at my ankles..." Orion said under his breath. "He hatched about a week ago, but that's getting off topic again, what is your name and why or how did you end up here?"

[Isirion]

With as much dignity as he could muster, the exorcist straightened himself and absently brushed a bit of dirt off his robes, then he introduced himself to Orion: "I am known by the name of Erastor; exorcist of evil spirits. I was called here to cleanse this haunted forest from the mischievious ghost that troubles it, but before I could finish my deed, I fell into a trap that the evil spirits serving the ghost have no doubtly set to thwart my efforts. Alas the incantation I spoke to protect me from evil spirits has no effects on earthly traps, that is how I ended up in the hole pleading for your help. I can't thank you enough for helping me out of my predicament." The exorcist strained his neck and to look upwards at Orions dragons, then he spoke again: "I also thank you for your help." Erastor bowed his head before the dragons, then he turned to Orion again:" Even if your dragons don't believe in ghosts, they do exist. There are rumours of ghosts that are powerful enough to interact with the world of the living. Banishing such a ghost at the Sleeping Dragon tavern after I have exorcised the one haunting the forest is part of my assignment too. As one of your dragons is a Hellfire Wyvern, I'll especially warn you about a particular evil spirit. For years now there have been rumors of an existence as menacing as the grim reaper. Death follows in its path and wherever it appears clad in a black cloak and hood the eggs of Hellfire Wyverns disappear."

Edited October 28, 2012 by Isirion

[Orion97]

"I believe in ghosts somewhat." Alsia said raising a paw. After she finished she noticed her mate Valerian had smoke coming out of his nostrils. "Valerian, what's wrong?" "Another hellfire I used to know, he said a dark figure once stole one of his eggs and he didn't even realize it until the figure was gone, for a month afterwards he would fly around a large area looking for a dark figure carrying his egg, he never found it and has since guarded any other of his eggs zealously." "That's horrible..." Alsia said with a sympathetic look in her eyes. Orion spoke up "So this tavern you speak of...would you mind if my dragons and I accompanied you there, it's been a long day and we could all use a rest."

[Isirion]

Erastor nodded in approvement and indicating his soiled robes he said: "Before I try to cleanse this forest again I need to cleanse myself. I'll gladly accept your company and your proposal to spend the rest of the night at the tavern." The exorcist gazed up at the sky that had gotten gradually lighter and added: "Not that there is much 'rest of the night' left. Even less, if you depend on me for directions. I have never been to the tavern; I only heard about the delicious food that is said to be served there. As I took the assignments for the forest and the tavern I was told I would only have to follow the direction of the main path to reach my destination, but after falling into the trap I am not even sure from which direction I initially came!"

[Orion97]

"We could ride Alsia and Valerian if it's fine with them." The dragons both nodded immediately and Orion mounted Valerian while Erastor mounted Alsia. After they took off it wasn't long before the tavern was in view. Circling the building in search of a good landing place, Valerian suddenly spotted a suspicous dark figure on one of the balconies. His mind still dwelling on the egg-stealer he instantly accelerated and growled: "Orion, hold on tight, if that is the one that stole my friend's egg, I'll make sure he'll never breathe again for what he did!"

A bit breathless by the sudden increase in speed, as his dragon seemed set on crashing into the figure and not caring about the building behind it, Orion finally managed to say: "Wait...what are you doing!!!"

Edited October 10, 2012 by Orion97

[Isirion]

At the noise made by Valerian's wings the dark figure on the balcony turned radiating killing intent and in one fluently movement unsheathed a bloodstained blade. However, as the figure saw that the dragon approaching was a Hellfire Wyvern, it sheathed its blade again and vanished with an unseen grin under its black hood; leaving behind only the unsettling impression that if it had wanted to, it could have killed the approaching dragon along with its rider in the blink of an eye.

 

Erastor who had watched the scene from Alsia's back, shivered uncomfortably. This was not due to the circumstance that he was sitting on the back of an Ice Dragon, but due to the uncannily resemblence the dark figure he had just seen bore to the particular evil spirit he had told his helpers about. Talking more to himself than to the dragon beneath him, he said: "If that was the ghost I should exorcise here, I'll rather be back in the hole in the ground where you found me!"

Edited October 9, 2012 by Isirion