Turf War

[chicbecause]

"I can WALK!!!" Khalon yelled. She kicked around like an angry child, then, sighing, she calmed down, hanging limply from his jaws.

 

"Does this never get old to you?" She asked with annoyance.

[Fangirl05]

In response, O'raan intentionally swung his head far enough to the sides that Khalon's head knocked against the wall. He made no effort to hide his pleasure at the sound.

 

Draugr sighed, but decided his energies were better saved for the coming raid. This was going to be a long flight.

[chicbecause]

"Ow! Alright, you brought this on yourself!" Khalon cried, cutting the collar of her shirt off where O'raan was holding her.

 

She dropped to the ground and aimed a kick at his jaw were she had ripped the tooth out. She had lived with dragons long enough to know their soft spots. She aimed another kick at his windpipe, not putting her foot down from the first attack. Then jumped and kicked with the other foot at his eye.

[Fangirl05]

"ENOUGH!!" Draugr suddenly raged. He grabbed as much of Khalon's hair in his mouth as he could and dragged her into Arikade's room. Without waiting for his response, he dropped her at the man's feet and was gone.

Edited February 9, 2013 by Fangirl05

[chicbecause]

Khalon sighed as she was dragged to Arikade's room. She found it best not to struggle, as she didn't want her hair pulled out.

[greatguy]

There were about ten seconds of silence after the first fire erupted in the sky.

 

Well, they obviously aren't concerned with stealth, Thunder's Sound telesaid.

 

"That means they either aren't trying to hurt us, or they're confident that they can win a fight." G'Lant exhaled sharply.

 

Thunder's Sound spread his wings. We'll take care of them. Guardian, make sure everyone can fly away quickly. We'll stall them for enough time for you to do that. If it comes to a fight, we can't win.

 

G'Lant mounted Thunder's Sound. "If worst comes to worst, we can generate a thunderstorm. That will be your signal to run."

 

Thunder's Sound took off. A thunderbolt stopped a group of dragons in its flight.

 

"What do you want with us?" G'Lant asked, glaring at the mass of dragons.

[Skullete-thetamer_1]

Adulfi growled fiercely, but was stopped by the tsunami wyvern that spotted them. She snorted as she glare at the dragon and warlord.

 

"nothing" she hissed, as the tsunami wyvern took over.

 

"if you cannot see, you are in Amacules' territory" he calmly said, with adulfi's muscles still tense, "we would like to ask, peace or war." the words the dragons ask before letting them go, spy on, or fight. his eyes glowed through the thick blizzard, used to This kind of weather.

 

Malifica heard the news as she took off into the snowstorm farther north, with Amacules mounted on her back.

[greatguy]

"Peace, if possible," G'Lant said icily. "We don't wish for trouble. We're going to leave once the blizzard stops."

 

I've summoned some thunderclouds. It's right above and behind them. It won't kill many of them, but it should let the clan escape, Thunder's Sound said privately to G'Lant.

 

Static electricity jumped through G'Lant's hair. If Thunder's Sound released the pent up electricity, both he and G'Lant would certainly die.

[Skullete-thetamer_1]

"if possible" adulfi muttered under her breath.

 

"adulfi, please be responsible, you were assigned this patrol for a reason" a voice said, and amacules flew on malifica, up to the group from behind. adulfi glared, but amacues didnt seem to notice. she nodded to malifica. the dragon nodded back and with her glowing eyes, stopped any snow falling on the clan, and stopped snow falling on a certain path, to a nearby cave. she pushed away snow so it revealed the hidden, dry grass underneath to it.

 

"bivouac cave, you guys might want to use it," malifica recommended, "and please, lightning doesnt scare us" she said as the patrol flew away. adulfi turned around, not to say an insult like she normally does, but some information.

 

"the psychic powers of malifica will last for 15 minutes, make good use of it"

[greatguy]

G'Lant blinked. That wasn't what he expected.

 

But an invitation into a cave? No, they wouldn't accept it, G'Lant decided. It was too dangerous.

 

Silently, Thunder's Sound wheeled back toward the assembled clan.

 

"It's fine," G'Lant announced. "I doubt they're hostile, but this is their territory. Let's go."

 

The clan gave a collective sigh. The humans began tying themselves to the dragons again.

 

The blizzard should let up soon, Thunder's Sound said. But I don't want a repeat of this. I'll go look for a peaceful place we can flee to.

 

"I'll ride on Yog-Saggoth then," G'Lant decided.

 

"IMPERIAL BLUE! YOG-SAGGOTH!" G'Lant cried.

 

The two dragons flew over, curious.

 

"Imperial Blue, I want you to fly between Geralze and Bringer of Plentiful Harvests and the clan. If and when we ever find a peaceful area, you are to bring them to us.

 

"Yog-Saggoth, I promote you to third-in-command. While Thunder's Sound looks for places to permanately settle, you are to take on his duties. I will ride on your back now."

 

"Is this acceptable?" G'Lant asked, looking at both of them.

 

The dragons gave an affirmative reply. G'Lant mounted Yog-Saggoth and took off, while Imperial Blue flew in an opposite direction.

[Durppie]

"She wasn't born in this clan... came from across the sea. Never revealed her name. Some people called who Skitty, because she was oh so skittish. Some say she went down fighting 3 thieves." Titus explained. "Some dragons wish to have no name...".

Filari woke up, shaken from her dozing. She managed to catch part of what Titus said. She rubbed her eyes."Wha-? Oh yes, she was a wild dragon?" She had two wild-raised dragons in her clan, a Mint and a Daydream. The former had joined after months of tentative contact at a distance and was still quite suspicious of Filari and her dragons. To say nothing of the vitriolic relations between the Mint and Ainuri. The Daydream simply appeared one day out of no where. Filari couldn't recall their names at the moment. The noblelady tapped her foot energetically, wishing for some good quality wine. Preferably made from elderberries.

 

Ainuri, who had stayed awake the entire time, clicked her tongue in appreciation. Three thieves? Tough little thing. Seems she has more of it than the puny annoyances back in the forest. The Magi broadcasted this thought to everyone present in the room.

[greatguy]

Damn it, I'm in that clan's territory. Can't afford to let myself be seen; I can't fight at all, Imperial Blue thought nervously.

 

Let's see, this looks like the area Guardian described.

 

Imperial Blue let out a roar. Every dragon in G'Lant knew the sound of each other's roars, so Geralze should pick up on it and respond.

 

Sure enough, a hesitant telepathic message was sent out, identifying the location of the issuer. It didn't need words to make itself understood; it functioned like sight in that by using it one could tell where someone was.

 

Imperial Blue dropped to the source of the telepathic message and saw a small indentation on the rocks. Geralze was standing on a ledge, gazing at her as she swooped down on him.

 

Imperial Blue relayed her mission to Geralze, who gave the dragon equivalent of a small nod before walking away, ignoring her.

 

Imperial Blue snorted irritably and took off, annoyed at the offhandway in which Geralze had treated her. He had a right to, as the oldest member of the clan, but still.

 

Now how do I get back to the clan without going through that other clan's territory? she asked herself.

[BoomSALMON]

Titus nodded. "Great spy, helped us know what was out there that could be threats." he said. Thunderbolt sighed sadly. They were discovered, and could be found by other clans. Their peace wouldn't last forever and eventually they'd join the war.

[Skullete-thetamer_1]

flying away, malifica looked behind her at the patrol, and locked eyes on a tri horn. she pointed to the rest of this side of their territory. the tri horn understood, and flew off away from the rest of the patrol.

 

"where's he going" adulfi asked.

 

"to the rest of the borders on this side, checking for other immigrants, or dragons from that earlier clan," malifica explained

[Durppie]

Ainuri did not miss Thunderbolt's sigh. She considered saying something about this to the entire group but refrained from it. I think he's sighing because you aren't exactly the ideal ally...we need to do something. We are deep in unfamiliar territory, miles away from any backup we could have. Let's not do anything foolish. I'd rather not have that Thunder dragon's magic being tested against mine. You saw the giant storm earlier, Filly.

 

Filari looked at Ainuri and nodded. By now, the other two probably already knew that the Magi could send mental messages. It was a common skill among Magis anyway. "Threats like..."She paused. Was this exactly a good idea to bring up the war? Her clan officially was a neutral party in most confrontations as she had never thought it a good idea to get into a war if the choice to avoid war was available.

 

Every warlord knew that there was an impending threat of war, though. It wasn't pleasant, but it was important. "Threats like from our lovely...vampire and thief friends? Fussy pieces of business."

[greatguy]

Yog-Saggoth was worried. Very worried.

 

G'Lant had let his thoughts wander, and even though she wasn't trying to eavesdrop, she gleaned much information from his jumbled thoughts. His primary concern was for the three dragons now seperated from the main group. That was understandable. And there were worries about the disappearances happening, and of the rumors of demonic spirits in the forms of dragons that feasted on the lifeblood of both humans and dragons. This was also unserstandable.

 

But there was also a worry that was unexplained. Yog-Saggoth could only infer that it had something to do with G'Lant--both the person and the clan. Of course, one would always affect the other. That was why the leader of G'Lant always replaced his pre-existing name with that of the clan--as a symbol that the leader represented--no, embodied the collective will of the clan.

 

Yog-Saggoth knew this. But she also knew the difference between an individual and a group. G'Lant as a clan might survive eternity, but G'Lant as a person would last for a normal human lifespan, a blink in the eyes of a dragon, whose lifespan was in turn a blink in the eyes of eternity.

 

On the other hand, if a leader made a serious mistake, G'Lant would not last forever. A fatal mistake from a short-lived, fragile human would bring the clan crashing down on its head. So if there was a problem with the leader, as the temporary next-in-command, Yog-Saggoth would get to the bottom of this.

 

 

 

"G'Lant," Yog-Saggoth said tentatively.

 

G'Lant made no response, but Yog-Saggoth felt his mind focus and become attentive to her.

 

"As'yallaton*, she began. "Why are you troubled?"

 

For about a minute, G'Lant was silent. Then, slowly, he said, "I confess that I have made a few--errors in judgement. When we departed from our home, I completely forgot our resident culinary connoisseur. Then I allowed Guardian to search for Geralze and Bringer of Plentiful Harvests in a blizzard. And even now I have allowed our strongest fighter to leave. If we are forced into a fight, we have no hopes of winning against a large clan. Even the one we ran into yesterday could have destroyed us utterly.

 

"Who knows whether our exodus was not another mistake on my part? Was there truly danger? The humans are sore from riding, and the dragons can't fly forever. If we do not find a place to take refuge in, G'Lant will fall into shreds.

 

"The worst part? If this journey is all for naught, if this entire expedition was pointless, I will not even be able to take responsibility for it."

 

Something Yog-Saggoth did--the way she flapped her wings, or possibly a shake of her head, must have alerted G'Lant.

 

"You don't understand?" G'Lant asked, looking down at Yog-Saggoth's back.

 

"I'm dying."

 

 

*A greeting or opening to a statement or question used when its user acknowledges the addressed person as greater than the speaker. No equivalent in the English language.

Edited March 5, 2013 by greatguy

[Skullete-thetamer_1]

the tri horned wyvern flew through the blizzard like if it was just a little shower of rain, her species and clan being suited for this kind of weather. now where would i find the rest of that clan? he thought, squinting through the blizzard. he stopped at the edge of the border, looking around, and thought he saw a silhouette of another dragon. well that doesnt look like any of the dragons from our clan he thought, and flew towards it for a closer look.

[greatguy]

Imperial Blue sensed something. Another dragon was nearby.

 

Imperial Blue continued flying and focused on the soft sound of wingbeats. The sound was coming from...

 

Directly behind her.

 

Imperial Blue suddenly dived downwards and swooped up a few meters behind her original position, facing the back of her follower.

 

"Did you want something with me?" Imperial Blue asked.

[Skullete-thetamer_1]

The tri horned swiveled around, and ended up snarling at the dragon. A move like that was like a threat to a clan, and normally the sign to strike, but he calmed down, slowed his wing beat, and landed in the snow.

 

"are you part of a clan? Particularly, g'lant's clan?" he asked, hoping not to surprise the dragon or make the dragon suspect something.

 

Malifica felt strange and uneasy, which she made obvious with her body.

 

"something bad happening back where he is?" Amacules asked.

 

"not too bad.... But it could lead to a problem" malifica answered, along with a slight nod.

[greatguy]

Imperial Blue was worried. Tri-horn Wyverns, she knew, were generally a strong breed, whereas she had trouble hunting. Nevertheless, she remained placid and blinked at him.

 

"Yes, I am a member of G'Lant. Do you have buisness with us?"

[Skullete-thetamer_1]

"my patrol just met them, malifica orders me to find the other dragons that are separated," he said, bowing his head. as strong as amacules' clan was, they respect the other clans, "i know where they are, if you wish to follow." he scraped the snow around him with his claws, waiting for an answer.

 

----

 

"he is a strong and respectful dragon, im sure he is okay," amacules said, and brushed a bit of snow off her face and fiery hair. the snow was slowing down now as they reached a lower altitude. malfica blinked a few snowflakes out of her eyes, and looked behind at the patrol.

 

"if everything alright?" she called to them, and received a harsh replie from adulfi.

 

"when were we ever not fine."

[greatguy]

"Where my clan is? I have a good idea of their general location," Imperial Blue said, eyeing the wyvern suspiciously.

 

"He's probably trying to find their real location and attack. I'll have to throw him off my trail before returning to G'Lant then," Imperial Blue thought.

 

"Geralze, can you still hear me? You need to hide with the Harvest dragon," Imperial Blue telerelayed.

Edited March 6, 2013 by greatguy

[Skullete-thetamer_1]

So the tri horn did get that suspicious look. If only malifica was here right now, so she can tell me what is really going through the dragon's mind He thought, thinking back to when malifica read the minds of most of the dragons. That was the reason why most secrets weren't kept to themselves. It was tell now or get found out by malfica's mind reading.

 

"well if you don't trust me then, that's fine. I hope you find your clan safely" he said as he flew a little ways off, but hid nearby under the snow and blizzard

[greatguy]

Too easy, Imperial Blue thought. I was right; they don't know--

 

"Imperial Blue?" Geralze asked. "We are concealed. What's happening?"

 

They seem to want to find G'Lant. They don't know where it is..."

 

Imperial Blue relayed her encounter with the Tri-Horn Wyvern.

 

"...And he let you go? Just like that?" Geralze asked.

 

"Yeah. I'm probably being spied on by the clan here. With my surroundings, I'd say three dragons could be hidden, waiting to follow me. Possibly less, but I'm not good at fights. And even one could relay my position by telepathy."

 

Geralze was silent for a minute.

 

"Fly around aimlessly for a few hours. See what happens. Make sure to keep out of that clan's territory; don't give them an excuse to attack.

 

"In the meantime, I will scout thrir territory. When I have finished, I will take care of any possible spies watching you, and you will report everything I find to G'Lant. If this escalates into war, we will have an advantage over them. In your report, tell the dragons who are unable to battle to stay out of the way--we may have to rely on magic, and in my experience magic has a tendency to radiate in all directions. Am I clear?"

 

"Perfectly," Imperial Blue swallowed. She suddenly remembered the reason Geralze was so highly revered in the clan.

[Skullete-thetamer_1]

Tri horned sent a telepathy message to malifica.

 

"they are suspecting something, and I'm worried about a fight He said, and a message replied back,

 

"our patrol will look after the current border, if a fight does get out, I've contacted the more bulkier dragons, and we will fight defensively, and stop them during it" malifica explained. Tri horn nodded, but then remembered that he wasn't with anyone, other than the dragon from the other clan. This dragon, or perhaps even clan, aren't very trustful The wyvern thought, sitting still in the snow. He received another telepathical message, "I have now sent three other dragons along with each of our patrol dragons, which is three including you but excluding adulfi. One big but defensive dragon, a very quick dragon, and a strong magic user for each patrol. I will come around and help at each station, we don't want war, especially not in these days" tri horn sent back a message that he understood, while waiting for the first move made form the Other dragon.

 

In the trees behind he could see two other dragons, a mint dragon, and a black dragon. The mint stayed hidden among the leaves of the trees, and the black dragon burrowed underneath the snow, to where tri horn was.

 

"we got the message, the other dragon, is you" she said softly. Now they all waited for what will happen next