Shimmering Light of Darkness (Rogue X Eldarwen)

Rules:
As for rules, all should know, but I will repost - you never know. Thus, for Rules, please check this link.

Tutorials:
Should help be required with expressions, styles, ways to combat or anything else you're unsure of, please refer to the following two guides:
Zay zay's Combat Guide
Eldarwen's Tutorial

Plot, Setting and Intro, all in one:

It was not an extremely dark night, but there was something gloomy about the way the moon dispatched its light onto the earth. Its pale yellowish light broke on the shades everywhere, but still spending enough light to be able to see one's footing. However, soon, mist banks were obscuring the view and everything floated in the air like blurry shapes. An eerie light and feeling lay over the lands and the horse dragon that was aimlessly wandering through the night felt a little uncomfortable. Its orange tail twitched lightly as it tried to shake off the uneasy sensation the mist's humidity was generated while creeping over her body. She shook her head, sending the mane flying but the wetness remained. At least the good part about this was that it woke Abraxas from brooding over long past events.

All evil is said to contain some good within itself, well the same can be said of the good. Evil is everywhere, spreading its wings over the world, even the most harmonious places and invading them at the most inconvenient times, tearing everyone out of their peace and quiet. But who would have thought that something as dark could lurk beneath such a quiet and open appearance as that of Abraxas, especially now that she looked like a puppy that got wet as the mist threw thicker and thicker covers over the world, burying it under its wings. The poisonous green glimmering of the dragons’ eyes might have betrayed her, but usually long streaks of hair were covering these rather demonic eyes, barely giving away anything to the outsider.

Good and evil were fighting within her very soul, something straining her strength to its limits until she passed out and slept it all off - for the time being. Seemingly good towards the outside, she knew this was not all she was, that there was more to her personality, things she could not begin to fully understand and grasp the importance of. But she felt them. Much too strongly at times. Not too long ago she had woken up from one such rush of sleep and she was wandering about, still a little wobbly on her legs. Even through the sleep she had not been able to fully recover as it was all still lurking beneath the surface. Therefore, it was hardly noticeable that she was actually a relatively elegant creature, having inherited the grace of horses, despite her hind legs, which resembled those of a reptilian. She was different from most dragons she had encountered, which made it hard for her to connect with others.

Often Abraxas felt lonely, disappointed and not all too inclined to even try to meet anyone new on her own, although she would never chase anyone away that actually tried to make the effort and get to know her a bit. Despite the evil she sometimes felt lurking beneath the surface, she wanted to be as normal as possible; she had always wanted to appear like any other dragon, to blend in, but that was a long time ago. She looked up at the full moon, wondering how it was possible that even in such a dark night, there was still light. Black clouds were framing the moon, sometimes moving in front of it, but never quite managing to completely cut off its light. It definitely was a dark night. Not only on the outside but also on the inside, at least for some, as sadness spread through Abraxas's mind and soul. But where there is dark, there usually is also light... somewhere...

Shimmering Light of Darkness (Rogue X Eldarwen) Blueslashstage5

As the mist that covered the land twisted and reformed, it revealed the searching form of Rilos, stuttering forwards every so often, head held high. His blue eyes flickered from side to side, focusing as he imagined mystical figures looming from the fog, before dismissing the blackened shapes and turning again with his head. Monsters revealed themselves momentarily in his peripheral vision before disappearing into the swirling mists, before he could turn to glimpse the imagined creatures, and follow then further into confusion. His silvered claws in turn gripped and released the bare ground beneath him with each stumbling step, hardly visible to his eyes from the distance his head watched from.

A thin shiver crossed his body as he cooled, beads of moisture from the mist clinging to his scales and spines, marking his body like tiny glittering jewels that refracted and reformed the black sheets that protected him. More flickered across his face, stinging him when they flew the short distance from the tips if his four curved horns to the ember of his face, before dripping down his muzzle to form a damp, upside-down puddle on his chin. He held his shadow form this night, black from head to thrice-tipped tail, with the lone exceptions of his silver claws and horns. But his chameleon-like colour change would not aid in deception tonight, with the weak moon shining through the atmosphere above, and the ghostly mist covering the ground below.

A drift of mist revealed a thin tree to Rilos' sights, but gave him no clue to as where he was wandering to- or from. His face wrinkled momentarily into a frown, nose pulled and lips pouted, before it resumed it's natural expression, and his eyes lifted up to the darkened sky. Why bother searching for something he should see when he could not see where it was? He stopped for a moment, his thoughts wandering to things past, memories he held close, and not so, before resuming his meandering path, distracted by the pains of battles he had witnessed, but hardly partaken in, the sleepless nights of long before when he had studied the stars glittering above, the twisting currents he had felt beneath solid wings. Here, a pang of regret, irritation, for he could no longer
feel these winds beneath his bare wing bones, or only the strongest, most cumbersome of winds. Not that he cared particularly much. It was interesting, flying with the wind whispering through what used to be, but is no longer there.

Letting herself be enveloped by the arms of the mist, her figure was as obscure to look upon as any other shape in this wonderfully weird night. Despite the darkness, the mysteriousness, the night seemed peaceful as such. However, the shapes and forms that sometimes would be revealed by the light of the moon might not be considered as peaceful. Even for the horse dragon, the shadows revealed frightening shapes at times, helping to increase the discomfort that had already taken hold of her. Abraxas usually embraced nights like these, enjoying the weirdness, the mystery, even the monstrosity..

Suddenly, Abraxas jumped up, holding her head high to try and make out what it was that had alarmed her, but she couldn't make out anything at all. Her tail, held high, was slightly swaying from side to side, giving away her agitation as every muscle in her body froze, ready to fight. Still as a statue she looked, but her eyes were keenly taking in her environment and her nostrils were wide open to catch any possible scent. Abruptly, she turned her head to the left, green eyes flashing with excitement. There had been a sound though she could not yet tell what it had been from. It had been very faint, it might only have been some kind of critter. Nevertheless, Abraxas kept keeping watch in the direction of the sound, hoping against hope that something thrilling would happen. The unease started to glide away from her, replaced by a sense of well-being. This was her element. Darkness. Secrecy. Rarely, she behaved against this, though it did happen.

The mist slightly lifted its curtains to reveal the weirdest shape. Abraxas shied back a few paces before realising that it was only a tree. It had been hit by lightning years ago and since then the crown had been bent down, cuddling up against the tree trunk, branches standing out on every end, generating the frightening form that had now been revealed in the fog. But that was not all. This was not why she was so alerted. All thoughts had been eradicated from her mind, all her senses focusing on her environment. She was not alone. She could feel it with every fibre of her being, but she was not sure who or what it was. She did not feel observed but the distinct touch of something's or someone's aura that was groping its way through the haze was enough to make every single hair on Abraxas' back stand on end.

Padding forwards once again, the black dragon looked around, feeling eyes apon him, but seeing nobody except the conjured spectres of the mist. He shook his head. There was nothing there. After assuring himself with the fact, he chose a direction, spinning three times to confuse himself completely, and to pick a random pathway. It didn't really matter as he didn't have to be anywhere soon, and he was lost anyway. So, unbeknown to Rilos, he set off once again in the same direction as he had been heading before, hoping that something out of the mist, or even the mist itself, if it could, tell him which way was out.

The crackle of something brought Rilos to a sudden stop, his claws gripping the ground as his heart leapt. Was it he that had made the noise? Reasonably loud, to his ears, sharp, snapping. Maybe just a lone stick hidden from his view- he certainly hoped so, but even still, the sound unnerved him. Being unable to see gave him the creeps, and after telling himself firmly that, "Whatever it was, it can't hurt a big dragon like me!" Even still, his voice wobbled as he whispered the words to himself, then again as he walked on, craning his head to look behind him. The fog had swallowed his steps, and he couldn't see if it had been him.

As the continuation of his path brought him to no recognisable shape, he turned off to the right slightly, deciding this at a tiny rock that he was sure he had seen before (even though he really had not). The clouded sky every so often revealed a tiny sliver of open sky, a winking star watching Rilos' path. Along this sudden change of path, many more shapes began revealing themselves to him, blackened, faceless forms that made him shy and start as they seemed to run at him or jump, before devolving back into dark spaces of mist. After a series of more frightening images, he jolted into a lumbering trot, turning as black shapes showed themselves in front of him, then swirling into nothingness as he disrupted their patterns with his slipstream. A bush, then a tree leapt out at his sides, and at each he gave a snort, frightened by the forms and his imagination. A further tree, the same lightening struck shell that Abraxas viewed, leapt before Rilos, and he slid to an ungainly halt, his back claws mudstreaked and dug far into the ground where he had slid.

No, you're not going insane, Abraxas thought. There had been a sound, she was sure of it. And it had been nothing the mist could have created, it had been far too solid, far too real for that. A shudder crept across her spine and she shook herself in order to get rid of the sensation. Something or someone was out there, and not too far either. She could tell by the growing feel of the aura. Tentatively, she moved forwards a little, always keeping an eye on the tree as if she was afraid it would suddenly jump up and attack her. There was something threatening about its shape that the horse dragon couldn't explain logically. Or maybe it was only the mist that started to play tricks on her mind, slowly getting to her after having wandered around for what seemed like hours.

Abraxas' poisonous green eyes were trying to pierce the mist banks but without luck. She would have to move towards where she thought another presence was lingering. Cautiously, she put one foot before the other, the claws on her reptilian hind legs digging deep into the now almost muddy ground. From time to time, her hooves slipped a little as she tried to find secure footing on the invisible ground. It was like walking blind fold. There it is again! A noise had reached her ears, from the exact direction she was walking into. Her ears kept flicking back and forth, trying to pick up any other sounds as her eyes were still not able to make out anything. By now, she was considering to create a noise herself to see who or what was in her vicinity. Maybe it was more than just one creature?

It seemed as though the fog had grown thicker again making it impossible to distinct anything that was further than two steps away from one's muzzle. The horse dragon's nostrils were flaring but with the moisture hanging about in the air, she couldn't smell anything but the humidity of the floor and her own fur. Tears were dripping from the strains of her mane obscuring her vision even further. She closed her eyes, standing stock still as if an artist had hewn her shape in stone. Relying on her other sense now altogether, she drew a picture of her surroundings in her mind the way her senses were sketching it out for her.

Breathing. She could hear breathing. It had to be a creature larger than herself, which pointed towards a dragon. The rhythm was quick, as if the dragon had just accomplished some kind of physical effort. Or was it afraid? Afraid something bad might happen to it amidst the visions this night created? An idea slipped into Abraxas' mind, not the nicest one. Maybe she could scare that creature a little. At least amuse herself a little if she couldn't distinct much despite the full moon still proudly shining down upon the world. The horse dragon opened her eyes again, jerking her head up a little to remove the hair strains from her eyes, before she slowly and as quietly as possible made her way towards where the breathing was emanating from.

With the monstrous tree covering most of Rilos' front view, his fear converted into terror at the mangled shape of the lightning-struck shell, so much so that he did not what his brain told him to do, which was flee for his life, but what his being told him to do, which was stay stock still where he was. He gazed wide-eyed in fear at the grotesque trunk and contorted branches, his head stretched out before him as it was when he was running, and his back haunches still sunk towards the floor. He caught his breath slowly, but still panted like he was running nineteen-to-the-dozen.

The tree drifted in and out of form, some parts as sharp as a line engraving and almost removed from the drifting mist, others hardly more than a dark blur in the night. As the spine spike dragon stood silently watching, his panic receded and he gathered a little of his scattered wits, enough that he realised the tree for what it was, and with small tentative steps, as if the tree would strike out at him for his advancement towards it if he moved any faster, he closed the gap between the two, gazing now in awe at the gnarled bark ripped and shredded by the single spark of lightening that had transformed it into this monstrous beast. As with all fog-obscured objects, the closer the dragon padded, the clearer the tree got, until he could see a sizeable portion of the plant. All fears of the demons in the mist were forgotten as this new, real thing was discovered.

Rilos wished to leap up into the tree's branches, but did not dare to lest the tree vent it's anger on him by shaking him free, and stayed firmly on the ground, digging his dirty claws into the ground to stop himself from taking the leap. His blackened tails wavered slightly in excitement at finding this interesting landmark, of the likes he had not seen before, and in the picking up of slight changes in the currents that wafted the mist this direction and that.

Now firmly found, next to this twisted tree, Rilos stood for a little while, less frightened now of the ghosts and ghouls he had conjured for himself, and looked instead at the sky, picking out the tiny pinpoints of light that were the stars in the sky that temporarily avoided the black, lightless clouds. To his eyes, the darker, bluer stars always shone brighter, as he associated them with his spines. A smile half crossed his lips for one moment as he found the familiar sight of Rairon, his favourite blue star in the skies of Dragon's Cove, and his terror was temporarily abated as he looked apon the familiar face, but before long his vision was obscured by darkened clouds, and his head drooped to a lower position, his fear returning like a cold gust of wind on a winter day.

Slowly, setting one hoof before the next, digging her reptile claws into the ground for halt, the horse dragon crept closer to the other creature in the mist. From time to time, she sharply sucked in some air to create random noises. Or scraping the mud and some leaves that were lying about, she enjoyed the ambiance of deepened eeriness she was building up. The mist was a nice toy, to put it in the simplest terms. Making it possible to render another creature completely insane or making it succumb to its despair, while they were unable to detect what was hiding behind the wafting curtains of the fog. The feeling of uneasiness growing, then anguish scrambling in and spreading, mixing with the innermost fears, the trembling limbs, wide opened eyes in a horror-struck face.

Abraxas grinned, while continuing to work her way forwards, playing the role of the mist monster almost to perfection. It was not the first time she was doing this and mostly always she had been successful. There was this one time she had been teasing a much larger and much more dangerous dragon and it had ended up being a very close shave so as not to get annihilated by the latter, who had really not been pleased with her doings. It certainly didn't keep her from going on doing what she liked, quite obviously.

Her eyes kept scanning the misty clouds, searching more detailed outlines of the creature in front of her. Something that could be defined as the head was staring at the darkened and broken trophy of lighting, which, in its better days, used to be a full-grown, beautiful tree. The horse dragon's ears kept flicking back and forth, trying to pick up every detail, every sound around her, trying to measure the reactions of the dragon and as a means of self-protection in case there actually was something threatening hiding within the fog. Yes, she was sure it was a dragon. The form, even though still rather blurry to her sight, seemed to have relatively large growths coming out of its back, things that could only be the counterpart for wings in an actually visible environment outside of the borders of a wild imagination. It could only be interpreted as being a dragon from what she saw and had seen in past bad-weather adventures.

She halted to look up at the night sky for a moment. Clouds were starting to move past the moon with greater gaps in between, and the stars seemed to be shining brighter, if that could be the case. All was hinting towards a dissipation of the haze, though she hoped it wouldn't be too soon, she was having fun. With that, she turned her attention back to the dragon, meanwhile never having stopped the bizarre breathing patterns and the irregular but constantly recurring scratching noise.

Once again, Rilos' eyes widened, the noises that drifted from the fog terrifiying him an gluing him in his place, drawing only the tiniest, shallowest breath at irratic pace. He clutched at the ground with all his silver coloured claws, tightening at every sound, before releasing slightly at the abation of the noise. Deep, whistling, sucking breaths frightened him to his core, although, he told himself mentally, "A dragon of such size as I should not be so scared of creatures of the mist!"

A louder series of sounds now found him pressed against the tree trunk, gnarled and uncomfortable against his scaled side. The unknown creature was getting closer! His blue eyes searched the mist, locking onto each dark spot for a moment as he assessed whether it was the creature he was hearing. One spot caught his attention for longer, holding a form that he might have see somewhere before... A horse? The thought crossed his mind for a moment before dismissed that along with the rest, no horse made that noise, and anyway, it did not resemble a horse form that much. Even still, it was more of a familiar form than any of the others he had seen that night, apart, of course, from the ones in the sky. He extended one leg towards it, but froze again when the noises grew to a crescendo louder than ever before.

With a gulp, and a hasty retreat of his front limb, he called into the mist in a wavering, frightened voice, "You... You can't scare me!" The sentence ended with a very unchivalrous squeak, cut off quickly as the dragon realised what a terrified sound it really was. His eyes remained riveted to the form he saw in the mist, ignoring the other dark shapes that might have been there, or might have not been there.

Abraxas followed the silhouette's every move with her poisonous green eyes through the ever so thickly blurred shadows of the mist. Her eyes taking it all in as if she wanted to paint a mental picture, not wanting to miss the slightest detail. This was her element, feeding the beast within her without ever losing complete control over the angel inside of her. She hated the procedure, the moment of darkness taking over, but she relished every second of her being it. It was like she was forgetting that she could be something else. Unlike when her good side had the upper hand, she could always remember that there was something else. She had yet to figure out how she was ever able to control her demon and be released from it. It simply happened.

This, however, was different. Perfectly in tune with her good side, she was simply pranking about, enjoying the fact that she could play about, no strings attached. Sometimes she was happy to be able to behave like a hatchling, a young dragon that just wanted to have a bit of fun in its own way. But suddenly, she even grew tired of this. Seeing that the other dragon was actually a little scared, despite its statement to the contrary. She interrupted her heavy breathing and her floor scrapping. Maybe I shouldn't be doing this, she pondered. What if someday really something happens while I'm fooling around? On the one hand, she obviously didn't care, but on the other hand, she cared way too much, knowing full well that fear is not a fun emotion and very hard to get rid off at times.

Nevertheless, she had to grin at the other dragon's stuttered comment. She chuckled slightly, yet audible, then replied: "If only that were true..." The other's uneasiness was stroking her fur and she would have enjoyed it much more, were she not going all mild now and actually sympathising with the dragon. Thus, it came that she decided to break the spell and to reveal herself. With a few light steps, she walked towards the lightning struck tree shape, slowly appearing out of the mist, its fingers still enveloping her a little but she was not a blurry, indistinctive shape in the fog anymore. Nothing scary about her, except maybe her eyes. "Believe it or not, but I'm not wanting to hurt you."

A shiver of fear twitched through Rilos' frame on hearing a low chuckle from the mist, his eyes wide as he embellished the sound to a cruel cackle. His eyes shut in terror at the sound, so different from the earlier scratching and deep breathing, not wanting to see the terrible beast in the mist. The following words unsettled him more, making his eyes flicker open to look through the mist again. Maybe he could reason with the creature and convince it that he really wasn't a tasty meal for any carnivore...

As he watched the mist where he had before, he saw the dark shape before him grow deeper in colour, and gain features. It was walking towards him! A quake shook through his frame again as he watched in his place pressed against the twisted shape of the tree. Unwillingly his eyes started to form a body, a neck with the elongated face of a horse, legs, hooves, claws. Coloured chestnut and red, not the ebony black that he had visioned a larger creature to be coloured. However, this horse dragon (as he now figured this creature was) had the same look hidden deep within her eyes that he had imagined of his pursuer, if for only a second. This was most definately the creature of the mist, and in knowing this, Rilos relaxed slightly. He had expected something larger- and much more ferocious than this female was.

Blinking rather, Rilos watched the horse dragon for a moment, assessing her as a threat. A little fear still held his heart in it's icy grasp, knowing that this female had been the terrifying creature from the mist, whatever she said to persuade him that she was harmless towards him. Trust would not come easily towards this dragon.

Digging his claws into the dirt slightly, Rilos asked (in a slighty hysterical voice), "Why...Why did you do that?" A tiny puff of fire flickered from between his lips, leaping only a few centimetres from his snout as he felt a little anger rise in place of his fear.

Observing every little reaction of the other dragon, Abraxas noticed that he was assessing her very cautiously, trying to figure whether she really did not mean any harm or whether she had only used it as an expression. Thought so, he wouldn't believe me. Just as well. A hint of amusement flickered through her eyes again as she realised he would not be trusting her anytime soon, but that had not been her intent anyway. But what had been her intent? She didn't even have a good answer to it herself, except for the obvious fact that it would be fun to mess with somebody, which she had accomplished pretty well now. But what would creep into her mind next? She couldn't even be sure herself whether it would be a nice or a nasty thing. Guess we'll just have to wait and see...

The dragon was larger than she had thought at first hearing him move through the fog, quite an impressive sight actually. Objectively speaking, it was a beautiful dragon, dark yet a hint of colour and amazingly sharp silver claws, not to mention the triple tail that would be quite a weapon if needed be. She was wondering how frightful an enemy he would be, should he ever be confronted. At least, for now, she was sure she didn't want to get too much on his bad side anymore. Fear was a powerful emotion and could push animals to the most scary reactions and that was not the fun she was looking for at the moment. Which again brought up the twisty question what she actually wanted. She shook her head in an attempt to rid her head of this ever-annoying and ever-returning question.

Focusing back on the dragon, that had now smoke coming out of his mouth, a sign that he was anything but pleased, the horse dragon teased: "Oh come on now. Don't tell me you've never toyed with prey before actually eating it. Don't tell me you've never liked playing with, say, a butterfly in the nice, warming sunlight tickling your body when you were still a hatchling?" A warning flicker appeared in her eyes, hinting towards the fact that she could handle herself and he should not get any stupid ideas despite his now seemingly growing anger. In her turn, she clawed her feet into the earth for a secure posture. Something told her, she should be careful, though she had a hard time keeping her tongue in charge.

Now that Rilos was no longer afraid, the gap the emotion left was now filled by something he normally didn't feel- Anger. The smoke that drifted from his mouth and nostrils now thickened and darkened in colour, turning a deep charcoal black. His eyes glowed brighter blue with irritation as he flicked his three tails increasingly rapidly like an annoyed cat. It was almost as if he was a different person in this darker coloured form...

Taking a step forwards, his claws sliced silver through the soil, his eyes narrowing as he processed the simile. He quickly hissed, "I hope you are not suggesting that I am anything like a butterfly myself, and you the only dragon here." His teeth clicked as he spat the words at the female dragon, the spines on his head raising a little into the air such as those of a porcupine, and rattling in a fashion not unlike one as well, not that the dragon noticed. As it was, Rilos didn't even notice his new personality change, forgetting his old personality altogether as if he had never even been that dragon before.

Flickering his eyes across the horse dragon quickly, he sized her up again as a threat of scaring him back to his more familiar personality. "Not high." He mentally concluded, one eye opening a little wider as he raised his creased brow on one side a little out of it's frown.

The silver glittering of his claws sprang into Abraxas' eyes and she realised even more that she had to be very careful now. The flickering tail promised to be a dangerous and painful weapon should it ever come to use. The bright blue eyes were fascinating though, they captured Abraxas in a way that nothing had done before, especially due to the contrast to the dragon's quite dark exterior appearance. They almost made it seem as if there was something much more fragile still to him, a good seed deep down inside. Maybe those were his true colours?

Bloodred eyes looked over the dark dragon, Abraxas' voice adapting a fragile, girly tone: "Oh no, I would never dare to insinuate anything of the likes." She was acting as if she was not in the least impressed by his manner or affected by the way he was throwing the words into her face. In fact, she actually wasn't. Usually, she would probably already be hating the creature opposite her after addressing her in such a tone and fashion, but somehow, now, not so much. "I'm merely suggesting that you have most certainly liked to play in your younger days," she added, only realising after she had uttered the phrase that she was again almost slapping him with her words.

Her tail was slowly beginning to move from side to side in a casual, relaxed manner, as if shooing away the foggy fingers that were caressing her fur, leaving traces of droplets here and there. The chocolate brown was now very dark, the mistiness sinking in, draining everything under its grasp. Abraxas lowered her head closer to the ground, snorting as a new smell crept into her nose. Already she was forgetting that she had been playing games with a dark dragon who was obviously much larger than herself and could be dangerous, as she was focusing on this new event - whatever it was that was disturbing the quietness of the mist.

Rilos kept his eyes locked onto those of the horse dragon before him, even as the mist around him crept closer once again with a change in the atmosphere. What with the thickened air and charged atmosphere the two dragons were producing, it was almost as though the two were in the heart of a windless storm, with the destruction of the storm raging around them- which it might well be, what with the limited visibility due to the mist. As the next scathing words scratched across his hide, now spoken in a voice that hardly took him in, he flared his wings a little, pulling them a short way from the clinging mist, thin tendrils of smoke-like air sliding from his bones as he displayed his annoyance further, but did not comment upon it. “So this is how she rolls.” He thought sourly, watching her movements and noticing the slowly wavering tail. His own three tips started to flicker in a similar patter, snapping in their tiny movements like the striking of a snake.

As curtains of mist billowed between the two, a smell followed it, and ignoring the other dragon to follow it with his nose, Rilos lifted it to the sky to sniff. Mild, creeping, pungent, rotting. His head recoiled in disgust, and he took a small step backwards at the violence of the stench, his claws scraping the tree behind him with a hollow sound. His eyes widened, former fear returning as it knocked him from his unusual disposition that night, and his heart beat faster again. There was something out there, other than this horse dragon.

Was that a creaking of wood? Or the cracking of something more, out there in the fog? The breath caught in the dark dragon as he searched through the film of white for movement again, but this time, he didn’t think that he really wanted to find this frightening source of noise. His eyes flashed to those of Abraxas, then back to the fog, dread shining through in the momentous glance.

The horse dragon vaguely noticed that the other dragon was also sniffing the air to find the source of whatever it was that was now slowly starting to creep her out. It was not only the smell, a smell that reminded the female of what she could only describe as a shit-demon, a monster arisen from a pile of crap and other, designed to haunt others and make them feel sick - or at least that was how she would imagine it. The stench was beginning to turn Abraxas' stomach upside down and she gulped hard not to follow up on that thought. The smell was simply unbearable. What is that??

Sensing that the dark dragon was feeling very uneasy as well, she almost wanted to make the suggestion to make a quick get-away before they both couldn't breathe anymore when suddenly she realised that the noises she had been picking up were not simply caused by natural phenomena. This was not the wind making leaves rustle and branches creak, or distant thunder coming up and causing the hollow, thumping sounds.

CRACK!! The disruption of silence was so close and so extremely loud that Abraxas held her breath in shock. And then there was total silence, freaking her out even more until she came to understand that this was probably only because both dragons were holding their breath, not daring to make a move or a sound so as not to alert whatever it was that seemed to be hunting on the other side of the misty wall that was surrounding the two. Her eyes shortly found those of the other, then turned back to where she figured the other was.

"That sound.... that was not a branch was it?" Abraxas didn't even try to hide the tremble in her voice. It had sounded too much like bones, like the breaking of a neck and it was horrible even thinking about it. Without her noticing it, the hair on her back had straightened itself up and was now standing on end, leaving no space for interpretation as to how she was feeling about the whole situation. It would probably only be seconds before that thing would be closer and discover them, or hear them breathe, because, honestly, how could anything NOT hear her breathe?! How can any dragon even breathe so extremely loud as she was right now?!

Terror clutched at Rilos as a CRACK! Sounded through the air, the noise echoing through the mist from where he knew not. Leaping into the air at the unexpected volume, his eyes widened nearly to popping point, pupils dilated fully, blue rings hardly seen as he peered into the darkness, wanting at the same time to see, and not to see the monster that was hardly metres away. Like Abraxas, his breath was caught in his throat, and time seemed to stop with it -The malevolent mists stopped, the fur raised on her back, his own tightened claws frozen.

And then, just as time had stopped, it started again, and Rilos caught Abraxas’ frightened look, the tremble in her voice. He gave a quick, frightened shake of his head, unable to the break the silence. However, something else did. From within the mist came a groan, ethereal, unnatural, out of this world. A dark shape slid out of the mists, veiled by shifting curtains for a moment, features obscured, just a twilight outline of bulbous body, broken-like limbs with disproportionate weaponry ready for its’ morbid duties. At the sight of the dragons (if sight was possible by the creature) a gaping mouth widened, white in the mist, ringed by teeth galore, curved and poised.

As the shape appeared out of the mists, Rilos gave a terrified bellow, raising into a half rear before turning on his heels and running, his dark clawed feet pounding the ground as fast as he could go, only thoughts to flee from such a dread monster. Avoiding the tree with a twisted leap, he didn’t look back to see if Abraxas was following- Or if the demon was either!

The picture presenting itself to the already frightened horse dragon was horrid. Teeth as sharp and long as those of an alligator, hungry for fresh meat and blood, the stench making the air thick with waves of unpleasant odours. She felt rather than heard the dark dragon's heart beat racing, the fear making him tense, freezing him to the spot. And then all of a sudden, he was gone. For an instant, Abraxas didn't know whether she should be more frightened by the fact that the otherworldly creature seemed to be creeping closer and closer or by the fact that she was facing it completely on her own. Shaking, she remained rooted to the spot, unable to decide whether she should turn around and follow in the footsteps of the dragon or whether she should stay and fight this monster. It could not be that terrible, now, could it? Truth was, even though she preferred not to show herself as a scaredy-chicken, she was absolutely terrified.

Thus, she rapidly arrived at a decision and gathered up all her courage to finally release a bit of tension to be able to run away as quickly as possible. She almost felt like crying out to the other dragon to wait for her, but she didn't. That would certainly be pushing it, especially after she had been playing games on him. Tracing the sounds of the creature running before her, she easily followed him through the fog and away from the dreadful abomination. She didn't dare speed up though as she didn't quite see where she was putting her feet and sure enough, as soon as she didn't concentrate on the sounds her precursor's feet and claws were making on the ground, she suddenly stumbled across a broken off branch from a tree and slid through the mud, almost falling face first into it. The thought of the monster gaining on her was giving her goosebumps, forcing her to gather herself up and making a headless run for it, quickly catching up with the black dragon.

"Let's see to it that we get out of this damn haze before it catches up with us!" she shouted towards him, even though she wasn't even sure the monster was following them at all. Maybe it couldn't run? Maybe it could just slowly crawl across the floor, crushing everything in its way probably but not fast enough to catch them, which basically was the important part in this. To her dismay, the fog didn't seem to want to lift anytime soon. The further they ran, the thicker it seemed to get. Until finally, a ray of light came through. Sprinting towards it, Abraxas realised too late that this ray of light was only the reflection of the moisture of the mist itself on the surface of a lake. Trying to come to an abrupt halt, she helplessly slid through the mud, hooves unable to get a grip on the ground to slow her down. With a loud splash, she landed in the water, creating a small wave of droplets that were determined to drench everything and everyone in their vicinity.

Hearing feet behind him, Rilos had a slight influx of panic, before he distinguished them as the horse dragon’s, following close behind. He leapt over a broken branch, trying not to veer off the course he had set in the fear of running back in the direction of the demon. To her shout, he replied as he caught his breath “I think that goes without saying!” His eyes roved through the mist, also looking for a way out from their insubstantial maze.

Feeling a slight change in the air, Rilos felt rather than saw Abraxas speed past, kicking up his heels to catch her up in her sudden burst of speed, reacting rather too late to avoid the mud and water. Hearing a splash of water, he knew he followed, and was thoroughly soaked a moment later, claws filled to the quick with mud where he had clutched at it, and nose dripping with freezing water. A further wave of droplets decided to shower him further, but likewise, Abraxas was likely to receive a similar drenching in a moment or two.

Pulling himself to his feet, Rilos was pleased to acknowledge that the water was hardly above ankle level, although more could be said for the deeper silt that moved with the ripples he made. Turning to where he presumed Abraxas was, he spoke again. “Fancy getting out of this place?” He wrinkled his nose a little. “Even if just to escape the smell.” For there was one, that of damp mud and cloying mess emanating from the muck underfoot and the mud already sticking to his scales up almost to his shoulders.

Only shortly after Abraxas had came to a halt in the water, a new stench filled her nostrils. Not necessarily better than that of the shit-demon but at least not worse, though she wondered whether that was even possible. When Rilos slid after her into the lake, frantically trying to stop himself, a wave of water washed over her again, soon after followed by the drops Rilos was shaking off of his scales. Grinning wide, the horse dragon looked at the spine spike dragon, his position unmistakeably identified by the showed that had just hit her: "Now that was fun, wasn't it?" She winked at him, then immediately turned towards what would usually be described as a shore but consisted only of slippery mud and tried to scrambled out of the water on shaky legs. Even though it was not very deep, the mud was a pain to get a grip on and Abraxas did not have as many claws as Rilos' making it all the harder for her, as her hooves kept slipping away from under her, giving her the impression of being a newly born foal or hatchling trying how to learn to walk.

"i would very much like to get out of here, yes." Looking around, she just wondered where too. The mist had not lifted very much around the lake and it all looked the same. "Do you have any idea in which direction to go?" She looked back at Rilos with a questioning look in her eyes. It didn't seem too long ago that she had been playing tricks on him and now they were allies. Funny how the world functions sometimes. So far, she had not heard any other sounds apart from hers and those of the black dragon, but she didn't want to linger to find out whether the shit-demon was pursuing them or not. A shudder ran over her back when simply thinking about that smelly thing, not to mention the terror that was creeping through the whole of her body when thinking about it following and catching up to them.

Shaking herself yet again, to get rid of the fear that had began to grope at her, she lost her footing again as her hooves were skidding in the mud. She fell down on one knee, her hind legs spread out in a wide angle, claws of the reptilian legs digging into the ground as hard as possible. Sometimes I really hate these hooves.... This was getting rather embarrassing, it was time they got a decent ground under their feet again. Meanwhile, mud was clinging on almost every patch of fur of her body and it would be very itchy once it all started to dry. "I know that somewhere there is a bit of marshland which we should definitely try to avoid, but I couldn't tell you in which direction it is." It was a shameful thing to admit, yet with the fog obscuring her senses and making everything look the same, she figured she could admit in having lost her sense of direction. No harm in being honest.

Giving a laugh, Rilos flicked a line of mud off one wing in Abraxas’ direction, “You’ve got a funny idea of “fun” if you enjoyed being chased by a monster!”
Seeing Abraxas’ movement towards the shoreline, Rilos started to wade his way after her, picking his feet up high out of the mud, long tendrils of muck dripping off his claws at every step. A faint smile crossed his lips at Abraxas’ shenanigans ((Fabulous word that)) with the mud, but hoped she didn’t see it. She did look funny though, slipping and sliding in the mud… And with that thought, he himself fumbled with his footing, missing a step in a deeper pool and plunging up to his chest in the slimy mud.
“Ugh.” Not only was it sticky and smelly, but cold to boot. He gave a shiver and scrambled out of the pothole, dripping from nose to tail. Even as he was released from its grip, the thinner parts of mud started to harden, almost like an extra layer of scales- Which was not going to be fun if he had to walk a way to get to a river or lake to wash it off.

Trying not to think about the mud problem, he realised, like Abraxas, that the mist <i>had</i> lifted, and although it was still cloudy and damp, the scenery could be seen for some way around. As it was, the scenery was rather bleak, with the shit-demon behind them, thick, cloying mudflats beneath them, and almost certainly the treacherous marshlands before them, arm in arm with certain doom. Looking across at the mud-coated horse dragon, he saw her questioning eyes, and felt rather foolish, having not a clue which way to go.
“Well…” he began falteringly, looking this way and that for a waymarker of some sort, “we can’t go back the way we came, because of the mud and that…demon-thing”, he gestured with one wingtip, “and we can’t go up, because you haven’t got wings, and you’re too heavy for me to carry.” This was unerringly true- despite his current size, Rilos wasn’t actually yet full grown, and had not come into his full strength and power yet- And Abraxas wasn’t a small dragon either. He paused for a moment, thinking further.
“However, if you ask me, I think there’s less mud and more land here than there was a moment ago, so maybe we’re coming to a bank.” He pulled one clawed foot out of the mud to stop him from sinking. “I suppose we could follow that in the hope of coming to some fresh water or a path or something…” Or, he thought with fear, the presence of the shit-demon if they walked the wrong direction. He looked back at Abraxas for her verdict, trying to avoid the tickle of a sneeze- obviously he had managed to catch the spray of mud from his earlier fall with his face…

With the lifting of the fog, not only became their environment a little more visible to the dragons, but also the shit-demon seemed to have gained a sudden willpower to find them and ... well whatever it is that shit-demons do to other creatures.. Something that could only be described as a shriek escaped the thing's throat and it launched itself in their direction, suddenly gaining speed. The horse dragon looked around, frantically searching for somewhere else to go but as Rilos had already stated, their prospects seemed rather grim. There didn't seem to be any other way left than going forward, into the marsh. "I'm really not sure this is a good idea, but I think we're left with no other choice what with that thing suddenly having its mind set on hunting us."

Shaking her mane, she was disgusted by the already dried and hardened mud that was now constituting her hair. Looking back at the black dragon, she realised they'd both soon have trouble with impaired movement due to the huge amounts of mud clinging to them. Though he was right, the ground beneath her hooves seemed to become harder and easier to tread on. "I think we better make a run for it as long as the mud is not completely like a body case," she stated with another glance back at the disgusting brown thing behind them. "You can make a break for it through the air if you prefer, I'll be fine." No matter how much she had enjoyed playing pranks on him, she was not going to force him to stick with her when it could be so much easier for him. It's a shame her wings got lost somewhere along the paths of her creation, yet there was nothing she could do about this, sometimes, like in this situation, very annoying fact.

"You've seen the beginnings of a path in the hardening mud, lead the way, if you please," sounding far less harsh than the words might seem. Her eyes kept flicking back to the shit-demon, not wanting to lose him out of her sight. "I will keep watching him, I don't trust his burst of speed. Here's hoping it will not increase, but rather the contrary, so we can gain more ground again. What does that thing want with us anyway?!" Slipping forward with her hooves, she took a few hesitant steps, then noticing that it actually seemed to gradually improve, her footing became more secure again and Abraxas began to speed up.

From the depths of the mire came an unearthly shriek, at which Rilos started in fear, his earlier terror returning with an unerring rapidity. Its shapeless body rose out of the mists, its features still indistinguishable even at the short distance separating it from the two dragons, apart from the two piercing, slanted red eyes that froze any living thing to its spot with dread. As it moved, a low gurgling sound emanated from the creature as its soft body left behind a dark trail of muck, a sound almost as unearthly as its preceding shriek.

Jolted back into the present by Abraxas’ voice, Rilos hurriedly followed her out of the mud, his relief at being back on solid land dimmed rather by the looming occurrence of possibly being eaten alive by a shit-demon. Seeing Abraxas glance back, he took a moment to gather his bearings, deciding on what he hoped would be the prime course away from the monster, without being eaten instead by the marsh (another experience he’d rather save until another day). Of course, as Abraxas had suggested, flying out of this nightmare would be the preferable option, but with the mud hardening…
“I’m not sure flying’s going to happen right now, with the extra weight of mud, as well as it drying out- Flying is only going to make it harden faster, and I’d rather not seize-up in the middle of a mire, with a shit-demon on the loose and being lost to boot.” He gabbled, heading off on the path that lay before him, its firm ground giving him a tiny sense of triumph.

“Isn’t it obvious what it wants with us?” Rilos answered back, eyes on the path as his voice rose hysterically, “it’s after a midnight snack!” A frightening vision of being slowly devoured by the monster came to mind, which he quickly quashed. Now was not the best time for nightmarish distractions, having the present to deal with for the time being. Below his claws, the path zig-zagged this way and that, tracking a safe passage across the mire for the two dragons. Behind them however, the shit-demon traced a different course, ploughing straight through the marshland as though it were flat land, or it were little more than the hovering vapours of a ghost.

To the sides of the dragons, more figures flitted at the very edges of vision, drawn to the place by the unearthly shriek of the demon, waiting for unsuspecting prey…

((Um, yeah, quick turnaround! It was either posting, or revising...))

Rilos' fear of their hunter was perfectly understandable, yet Abraxas did not want to agree that her emotions were floating along the same lines just now. The horse dragon quickly followed in the spine spike dragon's steps, almost squishing her head into his tail, so close behind was she. She was happy he was still with her, though she felt sorry for him that he could not simply lift off and disappear into the midnight sky. How much easier such an escape would be! "Hm, yes, I think the mud will begin hindering us sooner or later anyway. Here's hoping it will be later..." The enthusiasm linked to this prospect was plainly audible in Abraxas' voice. They say that the hope dies last, but somehow it was growing pretty thin already.

The path was tricky, winding its way through the beginnings of the marshland like a snake. The dragons had to be careful not to lose their footing, otherwise they might end up with yet another problem. At least the ground they were treading on was firmer now, to the relief of probably both of them. Abraxas was slipping less now, except when occasional mud lumps slid down her legs and stole their way underneath her hooves.

Leaving a little more room between Rilos and herself, Abraxas risked another glance backwards. As she saw the shit-demon simply ignoring the natural laws of the marsh, her eyes widened in shock and her loud intake of breath was followed by a severe shudder running down her spine. "Ahm.... Not that I want to make things worse than they are.. but..." Abraxas stupidly cleared her throat, "he is gaining on us!" Without wanting it to, her voice had risen in tone and volume with each word. The sight was indeed creepy, as if the demon had suddenly taken on different countours and was not from this earth anymore - well it probably never has been - or as if the marsh was transforming underneath it, bending to the will of the demon and mutating into dry land. Too bad the horse dragon couldn't detect what was lying behind the shit-demon, so she could not prove the possibility. Not that it was of any great importance now. She needed to distract herself a little in order not to be sucked into the illusion of having a nightmare. This was far too real to only be a bad dream.

The horse dragon gave up on not revealing her anxiety too much and jumped up as she suddenly grew aware of the creatures all around them. "We're surrounded! They're everywhere!" Nudging Rilos in the back, she urged him forward at a quicker pace, not knowing if it was possible to escape at all. "What are those things?!" She couldn't see them as much as feel their lingering gaze on her fur, tickling her and making every single hair and scale on her body stand on edge, waiting to be jumped. Her head moved from side to side, trying to make out a distinctive feature of at least something but the light that seemed to surround the dragons was impenetrable and she could not see anything specific at all, only the vague shapes of... something. It was freaking her out. Then she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. What if all this was only a game? After all, she had played a similar prank on Rilos... Could it ... ? Yet, some little voice inside her kept telling her that this was not a joke.

As the ground beneath their claws became more solid, Rilos broke into a loloping run, unused to the form of movement compared to flight, which he was much more used to. The drying mud on his scales cracked and protested, hardened by his inner warmth. The feeling of triumph within him swelled for a moment, then Abraxas’ fear-filled words stopped it where it stood, his fear crashing twofold back as his companion, frightened by the shit-demon’s continouing presence. He took a horrified look behind him, eyes widening in horror as Abraxas’ had done at the shit-demon’s path across the marsh.

Then came another, even more frightening update- More monsters! As their appearance was announced, Rilos began to see them all around, cutting off their side routes, front pathway and the path behind. Sliding to a halt, regardless of the dragon behind him, Rilos whimpered in terror.
“There’s no escape!” He cried, claws clutching at the marsh, muck seeping down the ridges along the centre, at bewilderment for what to do, where to go. The misty outlines drifted at the edges of sight, dark spectres inhabiting the borders of the horizon, but slowly boxing the two dragons in with increasing menace.

Rilos suddenly had an idea, clarity cutting through is fear-addled brain. The two dragons’ new, crackling mud exoskeleton had given him an idea, and he was eager to test out his theory. He whispered to Abraxas behind him, and eyed the figures that had started to take for out of the mist- some fat and slimy, some flat and wriggling, some leaping and squelching- his voice giving a tremble; “Can you breathe fire? We can bake these monsters where they stand!”

The spine spike dragon didn’t wait for an answer, and opened his maw to shoot a long, lethal jet of blue flame towards the shit-demon before him, then moved around to attack those others that circled. The mud that was stuck to his face snapped and hardened from the heat, freezing his mouth open, but to Rilos, that didn’t matter, as long as they didn’t get eaten alive!

The more ground the surrounding monsters gained on them, the more panicky Abraxas felt. Her breath came in rapid little puffs, barely enough to pump some air into her lungs, bringing her to the edge of hyperventilation. Her own thought of it all just being a game did not calm her down like she’d in some remote corner of her mind had hoped, but on the contrary, made her wonder who would find this funny. The foggy outlines of the creatures were swimming along the rims of her eyes as she was looking all around Rilos and herself, and even though she couldn’t distinguish much except for some slimy, crouching forms, some big, some small, she wanted to do nothing more than simply wish herself out of that place.

At Rilos’ question, a streak of clarity broke through. About to give a response, she quickly dismissed this as Rilos already began to roast the shit demon, so she simply said “I’ve got your back”, turned and began to throw flames at the monsters coming from where they had been headed. It was such an obvious thing to do and should have been instinctive, but somehow, Abraxas kept forgetting that she could indeed breathe fire. Smoke rapidly began licking her lips and the mud clinging to her face, then orange flames shot out, touching the slimy scum around them.

The outcome was not quite what she’d expected. After the heat had formed the mud into some kind of solid mask, she had imagined the monsters would freeze in their steps and grow into statues. Nothing of the kind however. On the contrary, they began to melt! Their surfaces started bubbling, dissolving their current forms into something resembling more a pool of disgusting ooze. There were still some monsters left, either stopping dead in their tracks, others hastily retreating a few steps, yet Abraxas still kept breathing fire but with longer gaps in between to conserve her breath. Within the few seconds the fight had begun, a weird calm had overcome her and she was feeling rather normal. Weird... However, she did not dare turn around to see what had become of Rilos and the other attackers, not to mention the shit-demon as she was still unsure whether the bubbling ooze would not suddenly get up and reform the slimy creatures they’d been only seconds earlier. “How’s it going at your end?” she finally asked between jets of flame, because she still desperately wanted to know what was happening behind her back without having to turn away from what was in front of her eyes.

» And there was Darkness throughout the land.. (Lycanscar X Eldarwen)
» Rogue ]}-Shadow & Light-{[ Aero
» The Beauty and the Chicken (Rogue X Eldarwen)
» Darkness falls. Jaej meets his end, another finds more friends.
» Eldarwen & bluemoonstonight {Title to come}