Today is (not) a good day to die

Subject: Today is (not) a good day to die Mon May 13, 2019 10:16 am

It was another beautiful day in the Everplains and Nalarys stretched out her wings as far as they would go to absorb as much of the sun’s warmth as possible, simply relishing the fact that she could soar on a gentle breeze like this, without much effort, without any disturbance. The female Lightning Storm loved these fields, green as far as the eye could see, flanked by darker green on the sides where the forests were ever so slowly encroaching upon the open plains.

If she craned her neck just right, she could detect the shimmer of sunlight striking the surface of Lake Racksom in the distance. That was her ultimate destination for a drink and maybe dipping in a paw or two. She didn’t particularly enjoy being in the water for the simple reason that it didn’t always react well with her magic.

Her eyes scanned the ground, noticing birds of prey hunting mice, rabbits escaping from the shadow she cast over the grass and a myriad of critters she didn’t bother to identify. There wasn’t enough meat on them to be even considered an appetiser. She closed her eyes in contentment, angling herself towards the lake and just let the wind do its work, gradually lowering her towards the ground and the lake.

Noise….
Noise that shouldn’t be there!

Nalarys snapped her eyes open and scanned the surroundings to her right, searching for the source of the noise but couldn’t immediately spot it. It was clear though that the alarm had been sounded. There were no rabbits, no birds or other small animals and a deadly silence had descended upon the plains and the edge of forest that bordered it. There were only a few trees growing there but it was enough to provide cover for human hunters and even some dragons. The humans in this area generally left the dragons alone, knowing there would be hell to pay if they attempted to disturb the beasts, no matter how peaceful the dragons might otherwise be. However, there were slayers every now and then.

There!
Something glinted in the sunlight in an area where nothing should be glinting. She didn’t know what it was but Nalarys reacted on instinct, banking away and upwards from whatever threat might be below.

Too late…
A sharp sting in her wing quickly followed by another one in her neck made her roar in pain and fury. Regardless, she kept on flying, making use of her large wing span but to no avail. ”Poison”, she thought as her wings faltered and the ground rushed up to meet her rapid and involuntary descent. She roared again, weaker this time, but there was no way around what was happening. She had let down her guard and now she paid for it.

When the ground finally caught her, the world turned black.

Subject: Re: Today is (not) a good day to die Sat Jul 06, 2019 7:48 pm

The boy's eyes widened with excitement, as he gasped in awe.
"That shot was perfect! She's gone right down, just like that!" He shaded his eyes, looking ahead where the boom of the fallen body had echoed from, amidst the next stretch of woodland. "Wow!"

Lyescer, crouched beside the boy that carried his supplies, furrowed a brow as he continued to watch for any signs of stirring. Poison or none, it would take a while to recover from that fall, so they would only know of their success for certain when they ventured to inspect the dragon.
"Seems so for now." He remarked curtly. "Come on then lad."
He rose from their hiding place, scanning his surroundings and the clear stretch of plains beyond for any fellow watchers in the forest, those most likely to doom his task. Slaying was always best done as quickly as possible, and with a minimum of scuffling, if any. It was simply a fact of life that villagers would sometimes seek to remove the worst of the dragons, just as much as it was a fact dragons were stronger than mankind, but would never accept the necessity of his trade. Sometimes, that arrogance was all it took for a cunning slayer or several to feed their family for a winter or more.

At a lively pace, they wasted no time in locating the dragon's resting place. Without any other disturbance, the crash site was apparent. A barbed mess of broken branches above them, punching a hole out to a shock of blue from the sky. Beneath the canopy, a crumpled yet large figure, a female lightning storm dragon. Satisfied that they were not being trailed and the poison had done as needed, he calmly exhaled.
"Quite awful for their size these ones are, boy. Lightning is the most dangerous common magic y'know." The boy, Perin, hung on Lye's words. "It's the fastest, and that's what counts most in this business. So, strike first, hard, and once."

"Well. We best get the bonds out, be a shame to waste good poison. Now, we'll start with the muzzle, and -"
"The muzzle? You don't think she'll jump, really?" Perin protested with a wary glance to the sleeping beast. Lye rolled his eyes - not a sharp one.
"Yeah she might, we just wanted to put on a good show for the dragons nearby." He paused, and when it was evident that the train of thought was going awry he continued with a sigh.
"No, boy, it's poison. She's just had a good strong dose of it, so like I was saying, we'll put the muzzle on first, then the leg bracers, finally the wing binders and once it's all good, she should come around at dusk. You said there was a mage coming?"
Perin nodded emphatically.
"Good, we'll need help to keep her magic dampened. Not gonna be a happy girl, but that's life."

Subject: Re: Today is (not) a good day to die Thu Jul 18, 2019 9:07 pm

Magic was a lot like an itch that needed to be scratched; a piece of himself that had slowly slipped away and only now made it's absence known. A lacking, that could only be fixed through finding the hole in fabric that had torn and needed to be mended.

One of the difficulties was finding the source of each magical pull. Being a Euphorn was a strange sort of empathy- Danesu couldn't resist the pull that healing magic gave him, if only for his own gain to fill the hole that suffering made. Secondary was that his magic would help others; it helped himself feel normal again, until the next time.
He hadn't figured out the common denominator between those he was compelled to help; oftentimes it was a dragon, sometimes a human or elf or other biped. Often the small creatures just came to him, a rabbit or fox or even mice, creeping up for a tiny tap of magic they could draw of their own accord, then scuttle back off into the undergrowth. Nor could he tell what it was he was drawn to, until the poor creature was waiting before him for help.

The feeling had been growing ever stronger over the past few hours- evidently either a large creature, or a large hurt- as Danesu trekked through the forest, aimlessly putting one paw in front of the other, head down and eyes blank. The sun had moved across the sky in the time he'd walked, from shining brightly above to now shining brightly into his eyes through the treetrunks, alternating blinding brightness with cool shade. He must have been close, his mind a blank slate as it always was when he was nearby- and the trees opened up into thick bracken and thin silver birch as he approached a forested clearing, even after hours of trekking jumping lithely over the fallen logs that had been thrown by some long-gone dragon making a space for itself.

And... there, his eyes honed in on the dragon in distress, a fallen creature stretched with muzzle towards him. He advanced forward blindly, his whole being focused on the one lightning storm in front of him.

Subject: Re: Today is (not) a good day to die Sat Dec 28, 2019 11:52 am

One thing Lyescer had no patience for, was dependence on other people. As he waited for the mage, the one that would weaken the dragoness enough to kill her, perhaps outright, Lye flipped from story to story with Perin. It would often go that Perin would ask a question, Lye might seem dismissive of it or take the opportunity to remind the boy how far he had to go to become a fully-fledged slayer, but inevitably that same naive enthusiasm would stir Lye to regale some of his best moments. Perin wasn't so bad, sometimes a liability, but still quite handy at times. He could move Lye's equipment around, could fetch firewood when needed, and even do other tedious jobs such as he did now, preparing bundles for the most valuable parts of the dragon.
Often, dragons were removed simply for the danger or superstition they presented, and not for their parts; no crew had dared come with Lyescer today to harvest the full amount. Yet, that didn't mean Lye was equally foolishly wasteful of a prize. In fact, he reckoned in another life he may even have been one of the traders that trailed between the northern reaches, bringing exotics from fields of ice or forests that were never quenched by the thunder and rain.

As the sun steadily dipped further toward the horizon, Lye's restlessness was driven to a peak.
"That blasted mage." He balled a fist to one side, pacing the circumference of the dragon as he inspected her for signs of waking. "You said I needed one before dusk, not at dusk?"

Perin nodded quickly.
"They said it'd take no time at all. They're just in the village over from here." He waved a hand to the vague direction of the mounds that rose up with the forest.
There was no doubt help should have arrived, but abandoning the dragon would have been a wasted expedition, and a greater danger if she fully recovered, her vengeance inspired.

"Then we're at a bad point, boy. Either we let this dragon go, to catch her another day after who-knows-what she may have done out of spite, or we try to kill her now." Attempting to kill a dragon well-attuned to the arcane with something as basic as plain poison was sloppy at best and there was no guarantee it'd work in the first place, each dragon species having its own very particular set of susceptibilities. This poison he had used was useful as a way to down a dragon, but limited in its potential.

Just then, the sounds of bells tinkling filled Lye's ears, and someone traipsing through leaves with gear as impractical as long robes. His attention snapped in their direction as they approached, unhurriedly and with no regard for their terrible punctuality, nor secrecy.
"About time." He declared with a motion to the dragon behind him as he planted his feet into the ground, arms folded. "I'd get moving if I were you. I'm sure she bites."

Subject: Re: Today is (not) a good day to die Fri Jan 10, 2020 9:50 pm

It so happened, purely by luck, that Danesu had approached the downed dragon in need of his help through the woods, rather than passing directly through the cleaved-up brush that she had destroyed on her crash landing. It was luck too- certainly not observation and avoidance- that had saved his directed path form crossing with that of the two humans plotting so close by.
The off-key chinking of metal unexpectedly cut through the Euphorn's haze only seconds before his paws were about to lead him into open vulnerability. Danesu jerked reluctantly to a halt, more human noises filtering through his senses too now; voices edged with irritation and complaint.

But as quickly as they had risen to his attention, they were fading into the background once more. His primary concern was, always would be, the dragon before him, the hurt before him; the need that he could feel burning up inside his own veins like a plague that spread each minute he paused in hesitation, let alone deliberation over the human threat nearby on top of that. No doubt the cause of this suffering, but still, a secondary concern throughout.

He slipped forwards out of the bushes without heed for safety, magic surging hot in his blood, reaching out with no little desperation to close the magical rift; to balance the imbalanced.
His nose dipped to the Lightning storm's and the rush of energy was a relief, a surging pain between them both all at once, like an explosion of lava from an angered volcano, or downpour of water from beyond an unstoppered dam.