(Rainforest) Chaos has a name... (22nd Board)

Last edited by Eldarwen on Mon Jan 13, 2014 8:41 am; edited 2 times in total

Setting: Somewhere in the rainforest surrounding the general area of the late Lightning Stone.
Time: 6th of July 3709, 4pm

This takes place right after the destruction of the Lightning Stone and a few days after the Guardian Dragons' meeting with the city council in Yarrowitz.

Sebantais and Vitreasa are on their way to help out their fellow Guardians and inspect the current situation when they happen upon a rather shaken band of Maledictus Eice, who are still disoriented from the sudden flow of free, untamed magic, as well as the complete and utter chaos caused by the destruction of the Lightning Stone in that area and it is slowly beginning to spread outwards.

Joiners:
- Anaekileya (Artemis)
- Sebantais and Fenrir (Eldarwen)
- Illeana (Rogue)
- Dyavol and Oceianna (Stormkatz)
- Vythiweiah (Aero)

A growl ripped from the wolf dragon’s throat as one of the other, still battered, dragons from Maledictus Eice came too close to him for comfort. Closeness, or even worse, a touch from any of the other dragons caused him tremendous pain, even more so when they were lightning magic users like himself.

Fenrir still couldn’t quite remember what exactly had happened down in the cavern underneath Celen’s Fall but at the same time, he didn’t want to know. He had understood the gist of it all and had even witnessed parts of it but he had been so delusional at the time, influenced by magic he could not even begin to comprehend that he had dismissed it all as a dream.
The main event he had missed as he had been unconscious from a forerunner of what was later to become an extraordinary blast of lightning and untameable magic. But somehow he had worked his way back to semi-consciousness when his brothers and sisters had fled from the caverns. With barely enough strength to stand on his severely battered legs, unable to even think about lifting either of his wings, the wolf dragon had dragged himself along with the others, suffering intense amounts of pain with every step they took.

The magic coursing through his body then and still invading his body now was more than he could handle. Fenrir was holding on to dear life with an iron will and a strong set of teeth but he was unsure how much longer he was going to be able to resist. The brunt of the magical wave seemed to have passed him by, dismissing his mostly inactive magic due to his unconsciousness. It had been a blessing, albeit one in disguise, but at least it had saved him from certain death. Had Fenrir been on his feet and helping take down the lightning stone, he would not have made it out of those caverns alive. As it were, he barely was alive now.

“Stay away from me!” he reiterated the meaning of his growl, preferring to be safe rather than sorry. All of them had taken quite a bashing – how long ago was it now? – but none of them had seemed to be able to fully recover from the blast they had suffered.
How long were they going to wander around mindlessly?
How long were they going to suffer from the backlash of what they had done?
What was going to happen to the fierce dragons of Maledictus Eice?
Fierce dragons that had been mostly reduced to shells of their former glory; dragons who were struggling with every fibre of their being to get away from the free magic that seemed to follow them wherever they went. Or maybe they were just running in circles. Fenrir didn’t know anymore.
Everything looked the same in this forsaken jungle. Everything was soaked in wild magic. Everything was dangerous and painful.
They had to get away from the jungle! They had to get away from the magic!
The wake of the lightning stone was in the jungle.
It was in them.
It was everywhere.
And there was no escaping it.

Dyavol had no idea where they were, or where they were going anymore. He was clinging to another dragon – possibly one of the clubtail sisters, possibly not – and he didn’t even remember grabbing hold of them anymore. He was a weak magic user, and the raw magical force when the stone was destroyed had hit him hard. That and the huge shockwave. It had spread from the stone as its binding magic was destroyed, and knocked him flying. To the others maybe it wouldn’t have been such a terrible blow, but it had near enough wrenched his wings out of place. He didn’t think there was any lasting damage, and it was certainly not the worst physical pain he had felt, but coupled with the magic, his entire being ached.

But it was going to be worth it, wasn’t it? Broken as he felt, he knew that it had to be. The two-legs would feel it too, and had dragons not been born of free magic? They would endure while the vermin in their lands perished. That was the picture he painted for himself as he clung on, breathing through the pain in his core. Not that he could put any of that into words for the time being, but he was recovering, bit by bit, as they walked further from Cellen’s Fall.

---

Oceianna had recovered relatively quickly compared to some of the others. The constant flow of magic tingled through her oddly, but she wasn’t physically hurt by the magic anymore. She had a higher arcane ability than some of the others, and all of the stronger magic users seemed to be coping a little better. Her wing still throbbed from where Cellen’s Dragon had crushed her, but it was hardly a pressing concern. Once they had stopped, she might even risk trying to heal some of the others.

She was nervous to do so, however, with all the free magic they had released. It would amplify her power, she was sure that her two-legged captor had said something like that about free magic, and she had no idea if she could still control her abilities. Her healing energy could escape too fast and take her life, or the spells could be contorted by the influx of magic. Maybe it would just mean she could heal more… but in truth, she had no idea.

“How much further are we going?” she asked quietly, aware that the injured would not be coping with the constant wandering very well, especially in the harsh magical conditions. It didn’t seem like they could run away from it for long, but maybe if they had a destination in mind the journey wuld go quicker.

Humans. Cruel, savage, wicked. Illeana wanted to rip the throats and hearts from them all.
But, no. She had to withhold herself from doing that, much as it would have pleased her to feel the hot blood of one of theirs gushing from their neck and painting her scales red. The thought made her heart beat faster with the satisfaction of revenge, although there was nothing to put between her teeth except another brittle tree branch, blocking her path through the rainforest.
Not even a damn beast or bird to clamp her teeth around. Maledictus Eice made such a clamour, anything in their path knew to run before they even came close to it.

The Ebony Hunter was blinded with bloodlust for humans, to a degree that she was beside herself for rational thought. Some days she was clearer; today she was deep in hatred. Her morality was a second thought now; humans were monsters.
Her precious son, taken from her for who knew what cause. Separated from her partner in the frantic scramble to try and retrieve him, but he had vanished into the forest… like only an ebony hunter could.
So how had humans done it?
She would slowly tear the next she found limb from limb, shred them slowly with her claws until-
Maledictus Eice would help her. They had a cause, they would understand, surely? She needed to find her son. She would do anything. Her blood tie ran strong with Voran. They had come to the nearby community of dragons where she had lived; she had thought they were strong and had their reasons for following such a cause, but would she follow them?
No. She had her family to look after.
How wrong she had been not to sympathise with them then. She had lost now, hadn’t she?
She followed them silently through the trees, seething to herself. They had wanted soldiers? She would be the best of them, infallible… until the moment she found Voran.
Then she would be gone.

For once in her life that was full of confidence and clear cut goals, Vythiweiah had no idea what she was supposed to do.

It might have had something to do with the ringing in her skull, or the flashes of lights that kept appearing behind her eyelids whenever she blinked. The exhaustion didn't help, that was for certain. Everything that had happened in the last few hours was little more than a haze of blurred recollections. She'd been pouring everything into destroying that stone. Vy had barely paused to receive some much needed healing for her grinding broken ribs that had been shattered by the guardian lich dragon before pouring her soul into the magical destruction from which they were all now fleeing. She was convinced that she had literally given up a part of her soul to the effort of destroying the stone, for there was no other way to describe the empty clawing void where her magic reserves usually sat stored deep inside her body. Perhaps sleep and a meal would cure that, but for now, they had to move.

Somewhere near her she heard a grumbled question asking where they were going. "Away." She replied gruffly in a voice that was too thin for her liking. It was only after hearing the sound of her own voice that she realized she had been dragging her claws in the dirt as she walked, too tired to pick them up as her broad armored shoulders bulldozed a way through the thick forest. With a great effort she lifted her head to try and recapture some of the confidence that she constantly projected toward the rest of her little clan of revolutionaries, but she didn't feel it. "We keep walking until we leave the battle ground far behind. Only then will it be safe to rest."

Could we have erred? Vythiweiah and her sister communicated to each other like they breathed, so in her current state of exhaustion she was too tired to check her errant thought before it escaped between them. She could almost see the words glittering in the air, a banner that was the beginnings of their defeat; one that they had created themselves. The magic that had been unleashed in the bottom of the fall had nearly been the death of her, choking her until she felt small and weak, crushed underneath the strength of it. The free magic still weighed heavily on her chest, like two boulders sat between her ribs crushing her lungs together, but the further away they got, the less it felt as if she would be smothered.

The negotiations with the city council of Yarrowitz had gone better than he had hoped though the people had been slightly less enthusiastic about the whole endeavour than he had anticipated. It was a shame what Dragons’ Cove slowly seemed to be coming to but it seemed as though there wasn’t much he could do about it. At least not for the time being.

The people would have to see for themselves if they were going to truly believe the word of the Guardian dragons, and as painful as that experience was going to be, it would be the one to open their eyes. They would either break with the weight of the knowledge or they would stand up and fight. Sebantais really hoped it would be the latter. He also really hoped that they were going to regain their faith in the Guardian dragons – and that the five of them were still able to live up to expectations, if those expectations were to come flooding back again.

The emerald dragon let himself float over the canopy of trees stretching as far as the eyes could see. The longer he did so, the more he felt like maybe they had been overreacting a tad. He had let himself be dragged into worrying by the others while he usually kept a level head. But it was better to be safe than sorry.

Peace and calm were drifting through him and Sebantais paced the flapping of the wings to the beat of his heart, slow and steady, up and down.
And then it suddenly hit him.
Whatever it was, felt like an explosion and as though it wanted to rip him apart from the inside. The blow was so unexpected and so wrong that Sebantais momentarily forgot to use his wings, falling like a rock until he caught himself again. Panic began sinking its claws into him.

“What was that?” he muttered, beating his wings a little faster in the direction this had come from. For a crazy moment, he thought it had felt like a stone had manifested itself, but there was no way the invaders had already figured out a way to corrupt the Earth stone in Racksom. After all, they barely had an inkling of what magic really was.

If it wasn’t the stone, what else could have caused this ripple in the magical bubble of the island? There was nothing else that could cause this. There was only the Earth stone that could potentially be in danger, but there was no risk for it at the moment.

For many hours, the green Guardian continued his flight, slowly making his way towards Racksom. He had been headed in that direction anyway but now he really wanted to make sure that the Earth stone was still intact, that it was still safe. However, the uneasy feeling spreading throughout his body did not decrease no matter how much he told himself that they simply could not have breached the stone. Yet, at the same time, he could feel the increased sizzling of free magic in his blood the longer he flew southwest.

With a sharp intake of breath, Sebantais suddenly realised that all along he had been worried about the wrong stone. The Lightning stone! The Lightning stone was the one that would set free this kind of magical feel. Oh by the Arch Magician, this could not be possible! What had happened?!
Adding yet another burst of speed, Sebantais flew down the length of the rainforest at breakneck speed. He needed to find out for certain. He needed to know. And then he needed to alert the others.
Tentatively, he already sent out a mental call to his fellow Guardians, just in case one of them was already close by and heard him or Vitreasa wasn’t quite too far away yet.

It was true that in many ways, Anae and Vy were indistinguishable; any who didn’t know them well found it nigh impossible to tell them apart. Even many of the members of Maledictus Eice got them confused sometimes. But for all that, there were some differences between them. Of course, the influence of whatever magic they had unleashed bore down upon Anae as well, making her feel sick to the core and practically ready to lie down and die. Unlike her sister, however, Anaekileya’s confidence in their cause hadn’t faltered. Perhaps for a second, she had questioned their decision, but in the few thoughts she had managed to form since the Fall she had decided that they could not expect to win their fight without further suffering- the vermin who had invaded their home would not be the only ones to experience hardship before ME were victorious. Admittedly, she could not have expected that their troubles would be as severe as this… but if it was what it took to return their homeland to its former state, then she would gladly endure it. She couldn’t say why it was so hard to bear, if they were simply unused to the strength of this magic or if they were fundamentally unable to bear it, but dragons had lived in these conditions freely once and so they could surely do so again. Even if the only gain was to their children or their children’s children, this was their task.

Whether or not she meant to share it, Vythiweiah’s thought- coherent among a stream of exhaustion and anxiety- leaped out at Anae. With an effort, she lifted her head, turning it to stare at her sister as fiercely as she was able.
Have courage, she urged. Hold strong; they look to us to guide them. Whether or not she was right about destroying the stone, the latter thought was certainly true. At times, she worried about quite how much the other dragons followed her and her sister; if they were to fall, for whatever reason, she wasn’t at all sure that Maledictus Eice would hold. Sometimes, she would have liked to be able to allow herself a moment of weakness- much as she would have despised herself for it- but that wasn’t an option when the slightest hint of flagging from her would mean something much more to the other dragons.

She was just about to drop her head again, the muscles of her neck burning from the exertion of holding it up, when a flash of movement in the sky above caught her eye. She couldn’t say why, it was simply a streak of green amongst the equally green foliage, but something prompted her to heave her head up and squint into the air. And there it was again- this time, through the spots which danced before her eyes, she could make out what the shape was. Believing it was, of course, another matter- because what would a guardian dragon be doing here?

And then a ripple of dread ran through her. They didn’t seem to actually do anything on the island, but she had heard before that their purpose, the main reason for their creation, was to guard the stones. What if he had somehow sensed the destruction of the lightning stone, and was on his way to attack whoever had done it? Usually, she would have rejoiced at the chance to fight a Guardian- for she very much doubted any of them would join Maledictus Eice, and they were unnatural to begin with- but now she doubted that their combined force could even harm this dragon. He didn’t appear affected by the free magic, or at least not severely; perhaps he had immunity of some kind.

Either way, her thoughts were soon enough halted by her heavy, dragging feet becoming tangled as she stopped concentrating, staring up at the sky. She hardly realised what was happening before she was crashing to the ground, her legs folding painfully beneath her at odd angles and everything jarring around her as she hit the floor. All the agony she had almost forgotten in her moment of fascination and horror came burning home, the great clubtail even blacking out for a moment as she was simply overwhelmed. After a second, she stirred weakly, trying to shuffle her feet back underneath her and heave herself back to a standing position as she conveyed a muddled warning of the Guardian to Vythiweiah.

The motion overhead stirred Dyavol’s thoughts again, and he looked up, bleary eyed. A green sape, moving around above all the other green shapes. Why should he care about that exactly? He was feeling sleepy… until he realised what the mysterious shape was. A Guardian. What the hell was a guardian doing there? He realised in the idea of getting rid of another one of the Archamage’s playthings, but the dragons of Maledictus Eice were too weary from the battle in the Fall to fight. The guardian was a threat then, so what could they do?

He saw Anae stumble, and realised that their valiant leaders were just as fatigued as he was by the force of the free magic. That comforted Dyavol; he hated feeling like the weakest out of the group, especially when the others were all still going strong. But the fact that the Guardian was above them was the pressing concern. He could only hope that it hadn’t seen them – hardly a likely scenario with their numbers.

---

Ocei clamped her mouth shut after Vy’s sharp response, but didn’t take it personally. The clubtails were weaker magic users, so the free magic would be wreaking havoc with them. Oceianna could only hope that, with time, they would all become more accustomed to the sensation of the magic.

The presence of a Guardian dragon was unsettling, but not entirely unexpected since they had just destroyed one of the Stones. They had just destroyed one of the Stones… Ocei paused with that thought for a moment. She had joined the other dragons for protection, btu now she was part of what was surely the greatest crime ever committed on the island. Not by the dragons’ rules of course, but Ocei had spent so long ruled by human rules… it all seemed very at odds with everything she had known before meeting this group.

She composed herself, assuming that they would have to pause if the Guardian landed. She decided that, when they had stopped at last, she would do what she could to help heal the others. Her own wound was far from fatal, and the tiniest trickle of her own magic had ensured that the broken bone was set in the right position to heal. She would let time heal her own injury, and use her magic to help the others. Even with the influx of free magic, some of the most badly injured would surely die on the road without help soon.

Vythiweiah lifted her head, looking her sister in the eye. Your courage shames my doubt. She admitted with sudden fury at her own lapse in weakness. It was blasphemy in her own eyes to doubt the will of Maledictus Eice, let alone to let one of the leaders do so. Heaving a great breath, she barged through a tangle of branches in her sudden anger, crashing through the wall of foliage with seemingly little effort. Never again. She would never doubt again-

Vythiweiah saw the green flash of scales first through her sister and in short order jerked her head around to see the streak of green for herself. Her breath caught, her feet pausing mid-stride as she watched the guardian soar right toward them. The crash as Anae fell from weariness broke her of her brief trance, and Vy quickly moved to cover her sister's recovery, wings spread to shelter her fallen sibling from the gaze of the speeding Guardian who had checked his flight and slowed down. Most likely he'd seen the long column of trudging dragons breaking their way through the forest.

She trembled, but not with weariness now. It was with the pending rush of a battle in the air. There could be only one reason that a Guardian would come to meet them so soon after the destruction of one of their precious stones. She was not eager to enter a battle, not weakened as she was with the free magic clawing at her still and the expenses it took to snuff the blasted stone out in the first place. But fight she would if worse came to worse.

Wings spread, waiting, Vythiweiah held her patience and her ground until the Guardian was nearby enough to shout a conversation at. "Guardian! We are the dragons of Maledictus Eice! State your business, and whether you are friend or foe!"

Sebantais did everything he could to battle the raising panic and fury that kept fighting for the upper hand. He needed to keep a clear mind though with the heady feeling of the rush of power that came with the free magic, it was somewhat difficult to remain calm in any way. It wasn’t as though he couldn’t handle it, he had been created in times when free magic had not been completely banished from the island yet, but it had been such a very long time since he had felt its flow in his veins.

Almost as soon as he was on top of them, the Guardian spied the relatively large band of dragons through the canopy of trees. What they were doing, he had no idea, but there was no denying that these dragons were badly affected by the aftermath of the stone’s destruction.
Had they had something to do with it? Maybe they had seen something? What did they know? What could they know if it hadn’t been them? But why would a horde of dragons want to destroy an elemental stone?

Of course… there had been rumours…

Without further ado, Sebantais made to swoop down when the voice of a female dragon reached his ears. ‘State your business?’ he thought incredulously? Who did they think they were? Had he not been in such a rage, he would have laughed at the gall.

“So you are Maledictus Eice,” Sebantais called back, slowly beating his wings to ease his descent between the trees. He had no intention of lingering if these were not the culprits he was looking for and he was in no mood to play around with an enraged motherhen, considering the way the clubtail who had spoken was hovering over the fallen one. None of the many dragons looked fit to fight; however, the wish to do so and the hatred were clear in almost all of them.

So the rumours might have been true after all…

“What brings you to this area, dragons of Maledictus Eice?” Sebantais asked, blatantly ignoring their question and turning it around on them instead. "What is your purpose?"

Anae felt a wave of gratitude as the shadow of her sister’s wing fell over her, shielding her from the guardian as she took a moment to regain her strength. Distantly, she heard her sister call out to the dragon above them, but listening to that exchange wasn’t her top priority at that moment. She couldn’t allow herself to appear weak, before Maledictus Eice or the guardian; let alone both. Not to mention that she needed to be standing if things came to a fight, and it wasn’t exactly good for her pride to lie here like some kind of cowed animal, either. She gritted her teeth in a snarl as she planted her feet in the ground, claws tensing to dig ruts as she forced herself back to a standing position with one massive heave. Trying to still the trembles which ran through her legs as she regained her stability, she listened to the guardian with slitted eyes before turning her face back up to the air and staring up at him.

“Our purpose here has been the same as ever,” she hissed, lifting her tail from its limp hanging position and brandishing her club with some difficulty. “We seek to win back our homeland through any means necessary. And you? We have answered you; surely you owe us the same?” Every muscle in her body seemed to be burning with its own unique pain, but in the face of this new threat and with Vythiweiah’s slight rejuvenation she managed to ignore it, holding herself up as she called out to the dragon with all the volume she could muster.

Illeana had been skulking (and also sulking) around the edges of Maledictus Eice as they tramped through the forest. She was much more lithe in the trees than these big heavy dragons, who just decided to plow right through them, and also didn’t particularly want to associate with any of them. They looked exhausted. She wanted to keep her determination high and her will strong, not tainted by others’ feebleness.
Of course, she had not been present in Celen’s Fall, so had no idea what it was that they had all gone through.

Did they even know where they were going? Illeana did not feel so good about this whole expedition when there was so much question about it; she wanted a goal, an end point where she would get what she wanted.

The Guardian dragon that caught the two Clubtails’ attention was blocked by the canopy from the Ebony Hunter’s sight as he flew overhead, but it was painfully easy for her to see as Anae went crashing to the ground, felled like a tree under the humans’ axes. The Ebony Hunter looked on in disappointment, then wound her way closer to the rest of the ground, tail swishing from side to side with a little concern now.
They were all so weak. Was it all merely talk, huff and puff that was quickly dissipated? But, they had destroyed the Lightning Stone. That was evidence enough that this group was for actual change. She didn’t get involved yet, but she would have choice words to say soon enough.
She stepped close to where a wolf dragon had been snarling at whoever came close to him, looking up into the sky as the clubtail righted herself again, her sister hailing the huge dragon in the sky. The two leaders seemed to have the guardian ‘under control’ as it were, so she took the time to look around the rest of the group, seeing who it was she would be calling comrades from this point on.

//most passive post evur

Fenrir growled a low warning when an ebony hunter, who had only recently stumbled across their group, sidled up closer to him. It wouldn’t do either of them any good if something were to happen with all this crazy magic all over the place. The wolf dragon didn’t intend to die just yet. He was too young for that!

Of course, his current state wasn’t all too far from the brink of death and every little movement seemed intent on hurting him in some way or other, even if it was merely breathing. Not like he needed to breathe to survive. What a silly notion.

He growled again, but lower this time and only for the sake of it. She didn’t hurt him as much as others did and he was glad for it. Though he wouldn’t openly admit it, proximity to other dragons would probably even do him good, if their magic weren’t lashing out at him while his own was trying its very best to kill him.

“What do you think his problem is?” he asked in a low voice, nodding towards the Guardian dragon. He wasn’t impressed. Not at all. But a Guardian was still a Guardian. And where there was one, there might be more. They rarely came without trouble. At least that’s what he had heard, but rumours weren’t always reliable. Come to think of it, this was only the second time in his whole life that he had seen a Guardian. Not that it mattered.

Sebantais felt the waves of irate magic coming off of these dragons but he didn’t quite want to believe it. Yet when he let his eyes roam over the horde once again and took in their wounds in more detail, the Guardian’s eyes pulled into glaring slits. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together, especially not with the display beneath him.

Letting his magic flare out and roam over the dragons, one more exhausted than the other and half of them severely injured, Sebantais growled low in his throat before his look returned to the clubtails who had spoken. “It was you! You, who fiddled with magic you could not possibly comprehend!”

Smoke started curling out of his nostrils as he became more and more agitated, furious at these dragons’ stupidity. “Is that how you want to regain your land? By destroying it? You have no idea what you’ve done!”

He was aware that he still had not answered their question but it shouldn’t be a question they should have asked. If they were so intent on regaining their homeland, they should know who the Guardian dragons were and what they represented. Though with the rumours he had heard, he was fairly certain that their knowledge didn’t extend far beyond the reach of their own noses. Never had he thought he would encounter such ignorance.

And never had he thought he would be so quick in judging his own kind. But his mind was beginning to be too clouded by a furious haze to be able to produce much clear thought on such a matter.

“What have you done with the stone!” he thundered, more smoke curling out of his nostrils and his mouth.

Vythiweiah did not take threats idly. In fact, she did not take them at all, and this Guardian dragon with smoke curling from his jaws was definitely a threat. Not only to herself, but her sister and her whole clan, and that was not something that she was about to stand for. Taking a step forward toward the Guardian, wings flared and head held high, she met his gaze with a cold fury that was borne of knowledge recently gained. "I destroyed it." She admitted in a tone that was more of a challenge than an admission of guilt. "Along with my fellows in arms, we took away a piece of your pride, Guardian."

Her rage was always close at hand, and it came now to the surface. "Or should I even call you a Guardian? Maybe it's too fit of a title, for we have seen the truth that you have been keeping from the world." The images on the walls of the caves leading to the Stone were still fresh and vivid in her memory, the carefully detailed record of a time long-past. "Dragons Cove does not need stones or Guardians to survive. Dragons lived and breathed on it long before the arch-mage and his fellow vermin set foot on our land. We saw it in the caves, set in stone! So do not tell me that we are destroying our land! We are freeing it! Freeing it from you and your pathetic ilk that you lie to so that you can keep your power." Now Vythiweiah was committed, despite her aching limbs and the crushing feeling in her chest, she could not back down. This Guardian had pit himself against the wrong dragon, and the righteous indignation was burning hot in her voice. The revelations unearthed in the annals of Celen's Fall would be breathed into the light, finally, after who knew how many centuries of being forgotten.

As the Guardian spoke, his words mixed with the boiling, black hatred inside Dyavol, and he let out a thin hiss. “How could we possibly destroy what has already been corrupted and tainted? Our world was destroyed when the two legs arrived, we are simply… reclaiming it.” He spoke almost to himself – his voice was thin, and considering that he usually had to shout to be heard by the nearest few dragons, there was certainly no way that the others would hear his little speech. However, it was enough to make him blink away a little of his weariness. His intolerance to magic was wearing on him, along with his physical injuries from the battle, but he would defy that Guardian to his last breath if he had to. He didn’t care if he had to live the rest of his days in agony if he could wipe out the two leg scum. His world had already been destroyed, and could not be repaired. The island, however, had this small chance for redemption, and he intended to dedicate the rest of his days to that cause.

--

Oceianna looked bewildered as the Guardian roared at them, clearly furious with them. He must have been Sebantais – her two-leg slaver had spoken about the Guardians often – and honestly, she was afraid. She was always afraid of something, for she had always been given something to fear. When Vy began to speak, however, her nerves calmed. The clubtail made it sound like they were doing the right thing – like they had nothing to be afraid of, now or ever again. Maledictus Eice had the power to deny the highest authority on the island, even in this battered state, and that gave her courage. No wonder so many dragons chose to follow the clubtail sisters…

She was aware of the Guardian’s probing wave of magic, but thought nothing of it. The dragons of Maledictus Eice were making no efforts to hide anything really – each dragon may have individual secrets, but as a group their intentions and physical state was clear enough. She was certain that they had nothing to hide.

The guardian’s condemnation of them, speaking as if they were children, was more than Anae could stand. It was true that the Guardians had lived longer than Anae could imagine living- longer than any creature had a right to- but she wouldn’t be surprised if she and Vythiweiah had experienced more hardship in their lives than this Guardian. He had been created powerful enough to rival most any inhabitant of Dragons Cove, had never known persecution… he hadn’t even intervened in the trouble of others, to aid them and keep peace, as was his entire purpose. No, for all living memory at least, the guardians had been useless. She stood by her sister as Vy spoke, her tail swinging slowly as she nodded, burning with the rightness of everything her sister said.

“We are no fools,” she added after Vythiweiah had spoken her piece. “We know full well that destroying the stone will have a price. You do not need to tell us that. We chose to take that risk, though, for the reward of our children and their children after them being able to live freely in the land which is theirs by right, unadulterated by human vermin. We would give our lives in combat to achieve that future, and we would do the same here.” Despite her weariness, she lifted her head, standing proud and staring straight across at the Guardian’s eyes. She was large even for a clubtail; it must be a strange feeling, she thought, for a Guardian to meet one as tall as them. It certainly was when she encountered any other than her sister.

He’s a Guardian. It’s his work… to fix troubles. At least, that is what they stand for. Illeana had grown a little sceptical however of them; when had a Guardian ever come to her aid? Her troubles had affected all her life- what problems were greater, than poaching and murder, possibly?
And yet, none had come to her aid. She would not be put under blame if this green watcher would now come to naysay Maledictus Eice now. A watcher, that was all he was, nothing more.

What have you ever done for us? Illeana added her voice to the other dragons railing against the Guardian, angry that he could just descend out of the skies like a god, berate them, and then force them to bow to his will before he left them behind again. Once the Ebony Hunter may have supported the five, but now she had no kind thoughts towards them. They barely made any impact on the Isle- they called themselves Guardians, then allowed terrible things to happen.
How could they let families be broken and poachers run wild?
She turned to the wolf dragon again, looking up and down his battered form briefly. Anae’s words sung to her ears in the background, the reason she had turned to the clubtails for assistance. The ability for her children to live in safety on the land, with no fear of being taken… if only it had been given to them before now.
How can any believe the words of this watcher? It was nonsence.

It was all most like a dream, a very bad dream. Sebantais looked from one to the other, stunned at how unbelievably certain these dragons were that they had done the right thing, thinking that they were actually saving their fellow dragons from a worse fate when their actions had just brought on the start of something they could not even possibly imagine the trouble of.
How had it happened that they were so incredibly deluded? Was this really what the Archmage had wanted when he had ordered the past buried? Letting them all wallow in their innocence and naivety so that one day a group of crazed fanatics could come along and ruin everything they had fought for so many years ago?

Nonsense!

Still, Sebantais couldn’t help but feel like somewhere down the line the Guardians had let everyone down. Old stories should not be completely forgotten and while the five of them were the only ones to still be alive and know the truth of them all while others believed the old fairytales to be nothing more than just that, it should not have started becoming an excuse.

Nor should a small group such as this one ever have been able to bring down a stone. Either something terrible had happened to its guardian or they had had help. The thought that both these options had occurred almost sent a shiver racing down Sebantais’ spine.

He forced himself to rein in the smoke, not wanting to have a horde of angry dragons launching themselves at him, not that he couldn’t take them, especially in their current state, but he didn’t want to underestimate them or threaten them too much either. Not yet at least.

And in all honesty, despite the situation being so grave, the emerald dragon felt a bubble of laughter rise up in his throat. He fought against it as he listened to the clubtails’ little speeches but he could only barely hold it down. This was ridiculous. Not in his wildest dreams had he imagined a handful of dragons who called themselves liberators to miss the bigger picture. But how could they understand? They did not know what he knew, despite the fact that they saw the painted walls below Celen’s Fall.

“You may have seen the handful of paintings about the history, but you do not understand. If you did, you would not have done what you so proudly but foolishly admit to doing. Destroying the stone was the stupidest thing you could have done. You can already feel it in your own bones. How many did you lose in the endeavour? How many are still suffering from the aftermath of what you have done? Do you really think you’re all going to recover as you do from any other fight? Do you really think this isn’t going to leave scars? Have you even for one moment considered what this will really do?”

Sebantais cocked his head to the side as he hovered above them. “No, you didn’t. Because if you had stopped to think, instead of being hellbent on destroying something that was established for a reason, then you would not have done it. You want to free Dragons’ Cove? You want to rid it of humans? You want to rid it of us? Well in that case, you have done well. The destruction of the stone has unleashed magic you cannot fathom. It will kill any dragon that comes into this area unable to handle such an onslaught of power. Only few will survive. The rainforest will die, and with it all everything tied to it. Give it a few more days, and you can start clapping each other on your shoulders, telling yourselves how well you have done in starting to kill us off. The dragons as you know them today are not powerful enough to survive on a power high such as this one. They will all die.”

Finally the laughter he had tried to suppress burst through. “Congratulations. It seems that chaos finally has a name.”

Last edited by Stormkatz on Tue Apr 22, 2014 7:29 pm; edited 1 time in total

Dyavol was verging on delirious, and only arts of the exchange with the Guardian were reaching his ears. However, what he could here made his blood boil. He was broken and exhausted, too much so to voice his anger, but luckily the other dragons were handling it just fine by themselves. As always, the clubtail sisters had it completely under control. Or so Dyavol assured himself. The Guardian looked so sparkly in the dappled light coming through the leaves…

No, focus. He could have slapped himself. He could feel his brain being addled, and he didn’t enjoy addling. Addling, what an odd word. Addley addle-addle… he forced himself to blink and look straight, focusing on his surroundings. An ebony hunter had appeared from somewhere, who seemed to have her head screwed on right, and the bothersome guardian was still there. Something about clapping themselves on the back? Dyavol gave up trying to follow the conversation, and sunk back into the scales of whichever dragon he was currently sitting on. He had lost track somewhere along the way.

---

Oceianna noticed a gentle babbling coming from the back of one of the dragons near her, but paid it no mind. The strong magic was wearing for them all, except possibly the Guardian dragon. She returned to listening to his speech. Scars? What did that human pet know about scars. The hot, red lines down her back burned even as the thought entered her mind. She hissed through her teeth softly, not quite brave enough to challenge the enormous dragon, but too furious to stay quiet. Every dragon present had suffered scars in some way before, more often than not at the hands of a human. This magic would kill the two legs before it harmed the dragons. The island would recover, the humans would not.

Ocei stopped suddenly. She had never thought such a cold, compassionless thought in all her life. Maybe it was the influx of free magic, or maybe just the taste of freedom getting to her head. Either way, it was strange and new… and she liked it.

The din that the rest of Maledictus Eice made when she and her sister had spoken out against the Guardian was heartening. Her gaze drew briefly away from Sebantais to look at her companions, her eye catching on a dragon that she didn't know very well. In any other situation, she would have laughed. What a fine time to join them, just as they stood before their greatest challenge yet. At least it showed something of the ebony hunter's character that she did not simply slink into the shadows and wait to show her face once the dust had settled.

They all fell silent again when the guardian next spoke, and Vy's chest swelled with familiar anger to hear him speak. She had promised her sister that she would never again doubt their cause only moments ago. But here this Guardian was, denouncing everything that they had done. Laughing at the fact that they had lost valuable members of their cause. Her wing bones rattled together with barely suppressed rage, her claws digging into the loamy black earth of the rainforest floor. Heat swelled up from the earth, traveling through her veins and permeating her body until she could not contain it any longer. The Guardian's laugher had broken any semblance of reserves that she had been holding onto.

"Let me tell you what I understand!" Vythiweiah yelled back, her voice bordering on a roar. "We have seen the history, and I know that dragons existed on this island long before you were ever a thought in the Archmage's mind. I know that our kin are persecuted and enslaved under your very nose and you do nothing to stop it! I know that when my mother and clutch-mates were slaughtered before my eyes, you and your precious Elites and all the righteousness in the world did not descend from the sky that day to save them. I know that there are many here who share this same sad past with me. What I have learned today is that this is not the first time in the Cove's long, long history." She had worked herself into a proper rage now, her weariness temporarily forgotten in a fresh rush of adrenaline as she stepped forward to confront the Guardian more directly.

"It all started when those damned settlers came off their boats! You want us to stop and think a moment? Then let us add things up, shall we?! Without those blasted vermin, none of this would have come to be necessary. Without them, there would have been no wars, no arcane sacrifices, no darkness! Yet you, oh glorious defender that you are, refuse to see where the real evil lies on this island!" The warmth pulsed through her body, turning into a burning heat that made the air shimmer around Vythiweiah's scales, making the rest of the forest seem blissfully cool in comparison. "YOU HAVE DAMNED THE DRAGONS!" She roared, flaring her wings and rearing back, the very picture of rage with her lips pulled back in a snarl that revealed all of her sharp teeth. "And so it is up to the dragons to visit damnation on all of those who would try and leash us!"

With a roar Vy plunged back down on the ground, magic erupting from her paws and sending the forest floor rolling like a wave of water, knocking trees loose from their ancient roots. They cracked, some fell, and in the din of birds that took sudden flight and the scrabble of snapping limbs and falling leaves, the great club tail screamed as her front legs went limp out from under her. The thick scales on her forelegs were cracked as if they had been stone, blood pouring out from the sudden inexplicable wounds and soaking into the loamy ground that still rolled and shook with the after effects of the sudden flare of magic.

Illeana hadn’t been down Celen’s Fall like the rest of them, hadn’t experienced the terrible power of Celen and Irael, hadn’t seen the paintings that the rest of them had, and so, was ignorant. She knew nothing of what the Guardian spoke of now, about history, and repetition.
She knew that the stone had been broken, but did not yet know what it meant for them all. She did know however, that what the Clubtails and their small following stood for was right and just. Humans did not deserve to live in this world, when all they brought was destruction.
We are not dead, we stand here before you now! Who is to say your words are not lies? The Guardians always spoke of peace, of how the island was in harmony- but how could it be, when dragons were slaughtered and persecuted? When their rightful lands were taken from them, and when they hunted and lived as they always had, were killed for their natural actions?

The Ebony Hunter growled in anger, that this human-bred animal thought to belittle their cause with laughter. She had not been part of this group for long, but she saw what they did was good, and her loyalty was always easily won. It was good that the Clubtails had fire in their hearts, otherwise Illeana would have stood up herself to throw her innocent knowledge at Sebantais.
It was a sight to be proud of, one of their fearless leaders railing against a Guardian; no dragon greater, so it was said. Well, let it be said now that the dragons of Maledictus Eice were those who led the west in revolution. No dragon would stand against them; the cause was justice served to the invaders.
She staggered heavily as Vythiweiah crashed down onto the ground again, the earth lurching beneath their feet with sudden magic. Wild magic was at play, and she could feel it crackle against her scales as it passed out in a wave through the air, as well as underfoot.
Their leaders were strong, to hold such; although after a moment of awe, came horror, seeing the blood pour from sudden harsh wounds.

==X==

Syn went flying as the ground shook under their feet, squealing with surprise and fear into a nearby tear dragon. Celen’s Fall had not been good to the Desert Chaser, and it was painfully obvious from even a small glance. His legs were coated in mud, his always-beautifully kept tail a frazzled mess, a branch caught between coarse bristles; his eyes wide and wild and his thick armour plates permanently erect with fear. He had thought he wouldn’t get out of that hellhole, that the Clubtails would be merciless and leave him down there to die, but thank… thank the Guardians, another dragon had hauled him out of the cavern.
“I only wanted free meals, is that so much to ask?” His voice was a high whine as he picked himself up from the ground, freshly coated in leaves and… he just didn’t want to know what, but there were definitely ants in the mix. Guardians, he hated bugs. Guardians, he hated this whole thing. Guardians, let this one in front of them spirit him away somewhere hot and free of crazy women!

Sebantais remained amused, no matter how much the clubtail started raging and throwing things at him. He did notice however that they had looked at the paintings in a little more detail than he had initially thought. Still, it was not enough to know everything, and it was by far not enough to understand it all. The Guardians themselves weren’t always sure how it had all suddenly come to be, how everything had fallen apart. Yet, now, all of a sudden and completely out of the blue, they were once again called upon their duty to keep their island from being destroyed.

The green Guardian wasn’t overly worried yet, though certain things were nagging away at him on the inside, there was still time to set everything right, but he could feel the wild magic creeping free and moving out from the stone, further and further. The dragons of Maledictus Eice hadn’t gotten all too far away from it yet but there was a certain distance, but already it was shrinking by the second.

When the clubtail suddenly crashed back down again, Sebantais dropped his amused look for one of worry. The blood certainly wasn’t normal. It was far too much for such relatively small wounds.
From the reaction of the ebony hunter, the Guardian figured out that he was not the only one who knew what this about, and when suddenly the already battered wolf dragon just crumpled to the ground for no apparent reason, there was no doubt anymore. The magic had already caught up with them. If it was spreading this quickly, then there was no more delaying. Action needed to be taken otherwise the whole rainforest was soon going to be in complete disarray.

“Maybe you’ll start understanding now?” Sebantais’ voice was comparably soft to all the shouting that had been going on. “Yes, you’re right. There have been dragons on this island before the humans appeared, and yes, things have changed once the humans came. But no, it isn’t all just because they have ruined everything as you seem to think. Dragons fought amongst themselves as well, it is the natural order of things after all.”
Sebantais didn’t pause and didn’t take his eyes off of the clubtail, paying special attention to her legs.
“What you refuse to understand is that things have changed since then. The humans have changed, the dragons have changed but most importantly the magic has changed. It was harnessed by the stones for a reason. There is no telling what will happen when these stones are broken and the untamed magic is set free upon dragons who have no idea, no capacity to deal with it. You know this is true. You can feel it yourselves in your very bones and scales. The magic you have so proudly freed is slowly catching up to you and it isn’t going to spare you just because you think you have a noble cause. It will devour whoever and whatever isn’t strong enough. Including most of your followers.”

He looked pointedly at the two clubtail dragons but already knew that whatever he said was most likely going to be wasted on them. Maybe he shouldn’t have told them quite this much but they had seen the paintings, they already knew more than any other dragon on the island and since the stone was now broken, the knowledge of the free magic was going to spread soon enough anyway. He just hoped it travelled fast enough for most of the dragons in this area to evacuate, otherwise most of them were most likely going to suffer a horrible death.

As other loyal members of Maledictus Eice voiced their accusations to the guardian, Anae felt a surge of pride. Who was he, to think he could simply appear after centuries spent as nothing more than a rumour and tell them what they should be doing? If he wanted to give them commands, he should have earned their respect through protecting them as was his duty. The guardian’s words had no effect on her, except to bring an odd sense of pride; chaos was exactly what the humans deserved. If she died having brought it to them, her death would be worth it- they needed to be punished for what they had done to dragons for thousands of years.

Every word her sister said burned through her mind as well, snarls ripping through her throat and fatigue forgotten for a moment as they shared in their rage. At times like this, the words one of them spoke almost came from both of them; there was nothing she felt a need to add, all of her thoughts voiced by her sister. So caught up was she that she hardly noticed the bizarre sensation as Vythiweiah loosed a wave of magic-intentionally? Unintentionally? She couldn’t say- a strange slipping feeling as magic rushed through the pathway Vy had provided, heedless of her welfare and utterly uncontrolled. It was too sudden, no time to react; one moment she was roaring at the guardian along with her sister, the next an earthquake sent liquid ripples rolling across the earth and sending her stumbling sideways.

Reeling, she staggered about for a moment, tripping over tree trunks as she tried to regain her balance. After a second, as she slowly recovered after the onslaught of magic which had overwhelmed her senses, she slowly became aware of her sister lying on the ground- but that wasn’t all. With horror, she smelt the metallic tang of blood, saw the gushing wounds- how was this possible? She’d never seen injuries just appear out of thin air like this. A horrible suspicion that the destruction of the stone was at fault crept over her- but she could scarcely register it in her panic for her sister. What could she do if she lost Vy?

Of course, the stone wasn’t really to blame. It was this Guardian, acting as if he was so perfect, who had enraged Vythiweiah and made her lose control of the magic. Abruptly, Anae’s pulse was pounding with rage once more, the words around her fuzzy and indistinct as she slowly lifted her head from her sister- she knew no healing, could not be of aid- to stare with burning hatred at Sebantais. He was saying something, looking at her, but she couldn’t care less what he was blathering about now. He was to blame for her sister’s fall, he had denied any right he had to be accepted as a dragon by failing in his sole purpose of defending those who lived on Dragons Cove, and he was going to pay for it.

With a roar, all her weariness forgotten in the massive surge of adrenaline which had overtaken her and left no room for any thought but to avoid using her magic, she launched herself at the Guardian with talons and teeth fully extended. True, he was presumably well-rested and possessed powers she didn’t know anything of- but he would not dare to use magic now, and physically she was would have been more than a match for him if she were in better condition. Clubtails were living war machines; thick armour all over their bodies and claws, jaws and tail that could all kill with ease. And right now, she didn’t feel at all tired, didn’t even think about it, though it lingered below the haze of anger which had overtaken her. Right now, all she wanted was the guardian’s blood.

Sebantais had sensed the building rage, but he hadn’t expected a sudden attack. And the clubtail was quicker than he had assumed, despite her exhaustion. His evasive manoeuvre almost came too late and he felt one of the vicious claws scratch along his nose and his wing slam painfully into a treetop when he scrambled out of her way.

“You fool! There are more important matters at stake here than your wounded pride!”
Sebantais kept evading the clubtail’s attempts to get at him, much to the dismay of some trees, because no matter how much he wanted to teach her a lesson, it would do no good. The female dragon was blind with rage and worry; nothing he did, or said for that matter, would get to her, he could see it in her eyes. If he wounded her now, she wouldn’t notice the pain and he wasn’t sure what kind of damage it would do the group if both leaders were incapacitated.

“Open your eyes and look past your own grievances! Look at your pack of dragons! If you truly are a leader, then lead! Lead them away from the stone and into a safer area for as long as it is possible so they can recuperate before the magic catches up to you again. And learn from this mistake! You are not fit for trifling with matters you do not know enough about! Especially magic you are not built to handle!”

Last edited by Aero on Thu Jul 24, 2014 11:46 pm; edited 1 time in total

Consciousness was fleeting. The forest swam before her eyes, going dark and light in painful turns. At first she wasn’t completely aware of the pain coming from her forelegs, but then the agony of it ripped through her and the world went muddy again. The scream of her sister’s rage and worry seemed like a muffled distant cry, though Vy definitely felt it very clearly on their shared emotional link. She wanted to get back to her feet and help her sister, but her only attempt to do so ended with her body crashing back to the ground, her injured forelegs refusing to support her massive weight.

She saw a flash of red and white out of the corner of her eye, no doubt a Lifeblood coming to help the situation. The warmth of healing magic took some of the edge off of the pain, the steady trickle of healing magic bringing with it a relief so great that Vy barely had the presence of mind to comprehend the battle that was now going on between her sister, several members of ME, and the Guardian.

It didn’t take long for something to start going wrong, however. The gentle blanket of healing started to turn into a smothering sensation, and when Vy finally managed to lift her head to see what was going on, she saw the lifeblood glowing from the inside out. All of his bones were illuminated from the inside, showing through the coat of downy white and red feathers. A look of extreme pain was plastered all over the lifeblood’s face, the magic he was using clearly painful. “Lefreneh!” She cried out weakly as his magic began putting pressure on her legs that only seemed to do more hurting than healing. The scales that had cracked under the intense pressure of the burst of magic that had cripple her in the first place were glowing with the same orange light, each crack illuminated sharply. Before her eyes the cracks split wider, some pieces of her scales chipping off entirely only to be replaced with new scales that jutted out of her skin like thorns.

Lefreneh tried to recoil, seeing the damage his magic was doing and finally managed to snap off the magic and struggled to control it within himself. Vy’s legs shook with a mixture of pain and the tingle of post-healing magic. The new scales on her legs seemed heavier than she remembered them, yet they were almost so opaque as to be transparent, revealing the roots of the scales below and the black flesh. Most disturbingly though, there was now a second toe protruding from her scales above her dew claw.

The crash of trees was what kept her from freaking out about the sudden changes in her anatomy as the other members of ME trampled through the forest after the Guardian. “Stay away from the Guardian!” Vy screamed above the noise, attempting to stand on her own again and succeeding, though with a severe amount of pain on her part. Lefreneh was still struggling with his own magic, the red Euphorn having now come from the crowd and was syphoning off Lefreneh’s magic and dispersing it before the lifeblood could get killed by his own spell. “He’s doing something to the magic!”

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