Quests & Challenges

@Farsidejr I know, I couldn't resist! I think he's gonna grow up to become quite a handsome man.

@fenshae @TheAwesoMew @Farsidejr [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/food/25.png[/img][img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/food/2.png[/img][img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/1076.png[/img] Think that's what I've gotten over the past few days. Sorry I haven't been writing. I've been trying to figure out a few things, and I think I've got it! --------- Time passed for the small group of dragons. Hatchlings grew, the small clan prospered, and now a new set of hatchlings would soon be underfoot. Sapphira glanced over at Fang, who was currently sleeping over a nest. She didn't envy the older dragon, honestly. She'd hated brooding. Why Fang wanted the boredom, she had no idea. "Why can't I go with them?" Davin complained. "Ariox isn't even here!" "Because you're still only half-grown," Sapphira replied sternly. "We said no, and that is that." Theran ruffled Davin's head furs. "There are creatures out there that would eat you alive, scamp! Not your fault you aren't big enough yet. Just a few more months and you'll get there, I promise." Davin just pouted. "Now if only Ariox could get here, we could be off," Lunus muttered, just before a swarm of familiar shapes dove down into the clearing. "Mith!" Sapphira roared, shoving Davin inside the cave mouth as the insects crashed down on them. Sapphira found herself knocked off her feet by a pair of bruisers. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Theran and Lunus tangling with their own attackers. A hard knock to the side of her head sent stars spiraling through her skull. Unable to take to the air with her now-crippled wing, she struggled to keep them off her back. A sudden burst of wind tore through the clearing, sending the miths spiraling into the brush – the lucky ones, at least. A familiar blue and green shape pounced on one mith that had somehow survived a crash into the nearby rocks. "Sorry I'm late!" Ariox immediately bounded to Sapphira and helped her up, a move she found touching. Behind him, a green and gold spiral with pale blue-green eyes bounded into the clearing, stirring up leaves as she went. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=45328759] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/453288/45328759_350.png[/img] [/url] "Is everyone ok? I didn't send more than the insects flying, right?" Zephyr was a sweet Spiral from a neighboring clan. She had a strong connection to her home element of wind – and an even stronger one with Ariox's heart. "I'm fine," Sapphira said. "Thanks, Zephyr." "We're alright," Lunus announced after glancing at Theran. "That was AWESOME!" Davin exploded, barreling out of the cave mouth. "You were like, RAWR, and the mith were like . . ." He stopped for a moment, obviously thinking about how a mith sounded. "The mith were like, BUZZZZ, and then Mama'n'Papa were like 'Aaah' and then you were all WOOSSSHHH!" Davin moved his arms in the direction of the wind, tumbling onto his side with the force of the maneuver. The shock from the sudden attack was more than mitigated by the precocious Tundra's animations. Every single dragon burst out laughing, Sapphira's fading as she noticed the only dragon who wasn't. Auria stood just beyond Davin, staring intensely at the Spiral by Ariox's side.

[img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/food/35.png[/img] [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/789.png[/img] [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/food/23807.png[/img] @fenshae @TheAwesoMew @Farsidejr Got all the stuff from the last couple days! Sorry, took me this long to write the story, it's been a busy couple of days for me. Everything is just go go go, faster faster faster, study study study . . . But I finally found time for writing, so without further ado, here's Ariox's first mission! ------- The mission had been months in the making. Word had come into the area of mysterious activity in a seaside cave on the edge of the Sunbeam Ruins and Viridian Labyrinth. At first, nothing notable beyond the occasional flash of light in the cave. Perhaps a new clan coming in? Then came the missing dragons, and tales of the occasional scream echoing from deep within. After someone had seen a large Ridgeback dragging a struggling Fae into the cave, action simply could not wait any longer. Adrenaline surged through Ariox's veins as the flock of dragons converged on the cave. Almost every dragon clan in the area had contributed willing fighters. Zephyr wove through the air by his side, Mercuria and Sakurako just in front of him. It was actually happening – his first fight! Almost as soon as the last dragon crossed through the entrance, the first trap was sprung. A line of runes appeared behind the gathered fighters, a shimmering wall of magic blocking any from getting out. Ariox's mood didn't sour, but he caught the worried glances of older dragons. "What do the runes mean?" he asked one of the Fae examining them. "If what I'm reading is correct, it means we won't be able to come back through here until the master of this cave leaves it," the purple dragon replied. "So that Ridgeback is still here?" someone called out. "Good. I was looking forward to crushing his skull!" That came from a brilliant blue dragoness. Several dragons around her nodded their support of the resolution. If Ariox remembered correctly, some of her hatchlings were suspected to have been kidnapped as well. "Shhh! What was that?" The warning came an instant before the shadows crashed down on the posse of dragons. Ariox suddenly found himself facing down a strange creature that looked to be cobbled together out of the parts of several dragons. It had three arms, two tails, and at least three eyes. The sound that came out of the twisted slit of a mouth was nothing draconic. Swallowing his disgust, Ariox tore the bloblike creature apart easily. Two more stood in its place, clawing against his body. How many were there? They seemed to be coming out from the walls of the cave itself! Ariox found himself repeating a cycle almost mechanically: tear apart one abomination, spin around, tear apart another. One enemy blurred into another, fear and adrenaline obscuring their features. Then, his claws weren’t scraping against mutated flesh but strong metal. “Ariox, stop! It’s over.” Mercuria’s voice filtered into his mind. Ariox blinked once, then again. His aunt’s features swam into view. He sat abruptly on his hindquarters, struck dumb. A paroxysm of shivers began to rack his body as he stared ahead in shock. A warm body brushed up against him, also shaking. He saw Zephyr’s golden horns in the corner of his vision. “Their first fight, eh?” a stranger’s voice asked. “I knew it was his,” he heard Mercuria reply. “I didn’t know it was hers as well.” “Why even bring unblooded fighters here?” Another voice inquired harshly. “They’re a liability now. If they were in my clan . . .” “They aren’t,” Mercuria replied coldly. “So don’t try to tell me what I should do with them.” Her blue and gold-lined face returned into Ariox’s vision. “Ariox, I’m sorry, but we need everyone we can to help deeper in the cave. I need you to do some things for me, alright?” Ariox nodded mutely. “I need you to breath in, and out. Yes, like that. In, out, in, out.” His head began to clear, his shivers reducing to a mere trembling of the claws. Mercuria nodded approvingly. “There you go. I’ll make a fighter out of you yet,” she said lightly. “Now follow the rest of us. We’ll need your vision to warn us if there are other creatures out there.” He glanced at Zephyr, who looked to be in about the same shape. “That was . . . intense,” the Spiral remarked shakily. “Yeah,” Ariox replied. “You alright?” “I think so,” she responded bravely. “I’m not dead, after all.” “Yeah,” he said. He ended the conversation there, feeling slightly stupid. Ariox took up a place at the front of the column, switching to the heat vision all Mirrors possessed. Strangely enough, the deeper they descended into the cave, the less there seemed to be any danger. Tension wound like a taut rope through the posse, the occasional nervous growl all that punctuated the silence. Finally, light pierced the dimness. It wasn’t bright, but it was enough to pick out his surroundings. He stood in a cavern that had been converted into a laboratory, machines and magical objects poking out of the walls and floor and ceiling alike. A pile of ashes sat in one corner of the room, bits of paper and ash hovering in the air. Most of it, however . . . “This place is trashed!” Someone exploded. A red dragon with odd green stripes stormed into the open. “Whoever made this place knew we were coming! We came here, and the rat scrammed!” “We can still find some information, I think,” a milder-voiced gold dragon remarked. “There are papers scattered all over, most aren’t burned.” The posse scattered. Ariox stuck near Mercuria, unsure of what to do. “Ariox! Come look at this!” Zephyr called. He bounded over, and the Spiral stuck a paper in his face. “What is it?” He asked, taking the picture from her. A landscape was mapped out on the paper, rivers and trees drawn in scratch. There were several Xs on the map, one of which was circled and marked with an eye. “I found it next to the scrying orb over there,” Zephyr explained. Ariox frowned, examining the map. What was so important about it? He tried flipping it upside down – chills crawled up and down his spine as the landscape features fell into place. Immediately, he was at Mercuria’s side, thrusting the map wordlessly towards her. “Is this what I think it is?” Mercuria asked after a moment. Ariox nodded. “This is a map of the area. I think the mage was watching us.” “With what?” Mercuria asked, glancing around. “Zephyr mentioned a scrying orb . . .” Ariox looked around, his gaze settling on a pale crystal orb against one wall. Immediately, Mercuria was examining the orb alongside one of the Fae mages. After a small discussion, Mercuria reared onto her hind legs and smashed the crystal. It shattered into pieces, a black smoke drifting up from the pool of shards. A dark look hovered over Mercuria’s face. “What’s wrong?” Ariox asked nervously. “Nothing,” the metallic dragoness responded shortly as she brushed past him. Zephyr appeared at his confused side, looking upset. “Did I do something wrong?” she asked. Ariox felt bad for her, and embraced the poor Spiral. “I don’t know.”

[img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/food/161.png[/img] @fenshae @TheAwesoMew @Farsidejr Another coli run, folks! Lets see what our dragon friends are doing today, shall we? ------------- [i]3 Days Later[/i] Mercuria was brooding. Not literally, of course. Honestly, she wasn't sure if she could even do that. The maddragon who'd made her mechanical had boasted to her about what he'd been turning her into, how he'd removed parts of her that were "unnecessary." Over and over, she tossed the images she'd seen in the orb through her head like a rock tumbler, patiently trying to polish concrete knowledge out of the images. The Fae mage had cast a spell to show the last place the scrying orb had scryed. It had shown their cave – Auria watching Fang's single egg, Fang watching Auria and Davin, Sakurako on guard. How many times had that mage looked at their cave, and why? To steal a dragon? She doubted it was that simple. What had clued her in was the black smoke that rose up from the orb upon shattering it. She'd seen that black smoke before – the day Adanarox died it had come off the body of the mage who'd cursed them, a dragon of the very same species as the one who's cave they'd raided. She'd seen it again when the strangler construct had smashed Sapphira's eggs and crippled Sapphira herself. And Fang, in her grief-filled retelling of Amara's death, had mentioned a trail of black smoke diving down into the abyss. Even Adanarox and Auria, when one was alive and the other more than a living corpse, had mentioned how darkness hung around the mage like smoke. No, the smoke was the mark of the blood curse haunting Adanarox's descendants, perhaps even the mage himself. She didn't even know how the mage had survived – he'd definitely been as dead as Adanarox. But she'd figure that out later. For now, she had to find out what was wrong with Lunus. Over the past few months, Lunus had become colder, aloof, almost unemotional except when he was talking about Ianthia, his love interest. Then Lunus became obsessively lovestruck, waxing poetic of the mysterious Imperial for hours. He'd also begun discriminating against the dragons he serviced as a healer, something he'd never done before as a matter of principle. Yet she'd not seen hide or hair of the mysterious Ianthia, and neither had any of the others. So now Mercuria stalked Lunus as he flew over the forest in a straight line, heading for a mountainous rise. She landed a bit farther away than he did, sneaking up to the clearing he'd landed by. Voices filtered into her ears as she got close. ". . . Has been happening since we last spoke," a velvet female voice said. A violet Imperial lay in the middle of the clearing, Lunus against her side. The two looked so much like lovers that Mercuria knew instantly this was Ianthia. Strange pink spikes grew out of her spine. Spellhide, perhaps? She'd seen it on a few dragon mages before. "There was a raid on the cave," Lunus said. "Mercuria took Ariox along as a first mission. She didn't want me to go, in case something happened to the cave while we were gone, but I volunteered my services as a healer." He made a disgusted noise. "I had to patch up lesser dragons so much I wasn't able to get to the scrying orb in time." [i]Get to the scrying orb in time?[/i] "But everything else was destroyed," the purple dragoness prompted. "Of course, my love," Lunus replied. "They didn't find anything." Mercuria was getting a bad feeling about this. Suddenly, a horn sounded – from behind Mercuria. She staggered into view against her will, suddenly overwhelmed by a surge of attacks from behind. Lunus and Ianthia spun and stood at her snarls. She found herself overwhelmed by centaurs, the quadrupedal creatures stabbing impotently at her sides.[i] Why now?![/i] her thoughts cried. She thrashed beneath the weight of her attackers, praying that none of them were strong enough to break through her shield of energy and pierced one of her soft spots. Across the clearing, Lunus simply ducked his head as Ianthia spun a web of spells around the attackers, lashing out if anyone somehow managed to get close. Runes glowed in the air, coming together into a wall of fiery energy. A surge of flame erupted, turning the centaur around them into ashes. Those gathered around the hunk of gleaming flesh across from them immediately fled, turning tail like the animals they were. Pride and love swelled in Lunus' chest. Magical and beautiful – the perfect combination for the perfect mate. Oh, the children they would have . . . "Who is this?" Ianthia asked curiously. Lunus looked closer at the silvery dragon rising to her feet. "Mercuria?" How had he not noticed her following him? "What are you doing here?" "Following you," Mercuria responded raggedly, climbing to her feet. "I wanted to know where you were going for hours every couple days." She advanced to the pair of Imperials, looking Ianthia over. Lunus felt his love tense, though she kept her composure as ever. Mercuria extended a claw. "My name is Mercuria. You?" "Ianthia," Ianthia replied, taking the claw. "Though you won't remember that if I have anything to say about it." Mercuria gave Ianthia a curious look, before her face went abruptly slack. "Sleep," Ianthia said, her voice vibrating with power, "and forget." Like a dragon possessed, Mercuria curled up where she stood, sides rising and falling in deep, measured sighs. Ianthia nodded with satisfaction. "She won't remember a thing. You'll be able to introduce me in a few days, just as we planned." "Is she hurt?" Lunus asked. Despite asking, he felt quite indifferent to whether or not she was alright at all. "Of course," Ianthia soothed. "I don't really want to hurt her, not yet, at least. If I did then all our plans would be exposed, silly fool." Of course. Ianthia was right, as always. He was a fool. But he was the fool whom she'd accepted, whom she loved. He looked at her, drowning in her beautiful orange eyes, those hypnotic eyes that had drawn him in the first day she'd appeared to him. "Give it a day or two, and then you will introduce me to the clan. Won't you, Lunus?" Ianthia asked. Her voice was like a silken cloth, wrapping him in warmth. There was only one possible answer he could even think of giving. "Of course, my love."

[img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/21387.png[/img] @fenshae @TheAwesoMew @Farsidejr Got an actual trinket this time! *cheers and does a dance* Let's dig through my hoard and figure out what chests I've got. [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/574.png[/img] (x4) [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/576.png[/img] [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/22408.png[/img] Not much by any means, but I just opened a few in an attempt to get Smirch the other day, so that's why. [b]Notable Items[/b] [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/familiar/22395.png[/img] [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/equipment/1254.png[/img] [img]http://flightrising.com/images/layout/gem_pile.png[/img] (x10) -------------- Mercuria awoke slowly, feeling unusually tired. Her mind was full of cobwebs as she surveyed her surroundings: a green clearing surrounded by tall trees, shadowed by nightfall. At this point it was so dark she cast some light from the cybernetics embedded in her body. "Where am I?" she mumbled, shaking her head blearily. She couldn't remember how she'd gotten here, or why. Fear quickly began making inroads. She spun about herself, examining every inch of her body. Had the maddragon come back? Had he stolen a new part of her body away from her? Why drop her here, instead of somewhere close to the lair? Where even [i]was[/i] here? A shout from above. Mercuria glanced up, eyes wide, as two dragons descended from the twilit sky. [i]Gladekeeper, no![/i] She remembered those dragons well – they'd been the ones to steal her from the Viridian Labyrinth. [i]Nononono! [/i] Half-blind with fear, Mercuria lashed out like a cornered bear, thrashing the Mirror and causing the Tundra to reel back. Then, a massive weight crashed down onto her back, sending her sprawling. "Mercuria, snap out of it! What you're seeing isn't real!" Sakurako's voice clanged into her thoughts. The panicky train was interrupted by confusion. What was her brother doing here? She blinked several times. The red Mirror's body dulled in color, barely visible except for a pair of green wings. The gray Tundra's body, on the other hand, brightened, resolving into a terrified-looking female. Theran advanced warily, the side of his head bearing a deep gash from her claws. "Are you alright, Aunt Mercuria?" Theran asked. "I-I don't know," Mercuria stammered once Sakurako had gotten off her. "I don't know, I don't know." "Relax," Sakurako soothed. "You're safe. That's all that matters." To Theran and his coworker Ria, he said, "You go on ahead to the lair. I'll bring her back." Ria nodded a little too quickly before taking off. Theran followed her into the air. When the two were gone, Sakurako placed both of his claws on Mercuria's shoulders. "Do you know how you got here?" he asked softly. Mercuria shook her head. "I don't remember anything. I just woke up here," she replied, voice still shaking. "How long was I gone?" "You left around midmorning, according to Sapphira and Fang," Sakurako answered. "When you weren't back by evening, we launched a search party. You aren't too far from the lair, it's just an hour's flight south of here." The fact calmed her a bit. "I'll have to apologize to Theran and Ria," Mercuria said, shame washing over her. "I thought they were the dragons who took me away so long ago." "You haven't had a flashback in a while now," Sakurako said in a too-cheerful voice. "You can feel good about that at least." Mercuria cast her brother a rueful smile. "Thanks." She really didn't have the heart to tell him how little his attempts at cheering her up failed each time. As they flew back, Sakurako gave her some news. "The egg hatched while you were away. He's got his mothers markings in reverse – like a black moon. We named him Kurozuki. We also got our share of treasure for volunteering to raid that lair. Other than that you haven't missed much." Upon reaching the lair, she was greeted by a stern-looking Davin. "Who approaches?" His growl, rough from attempting to deepen his voice, and the too-big chestguard he sported was enough to make her start laughing. Davin made a face. "You're supposed to be scared," he pouted, throwing the chestguard down to the dirt in frustration. "Put that back with the rest of the hoard." Sapphira's voice floated into the air. Davin made another face, sullenly picking up the chestguard and dragging it back into the lair past his mother. Sapphira advanced, worry clear in her deep green eyes. "Are you alright?" "I think so," Mercuria replied. She settled down in her corner of the cave, noticing the black and white hatchling sitting by Fang's legs. He was busy tussling with a bright blue Ragepuff. [img]http://flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=0&body=9&bodygene=10&breed=8&element=10&eyetype=1&gender=0&tert=91&tertgene=5&winggene=2&wings=177&auth=339e72d7dac6bbb01f63be9ef38d7876fb809a55&dummyext=prev.png[/img] Not for the first time she wished for one of her own.

[img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/7589.png[/img] @fenshae @TheAwesoMew @Farsidejr Thought for sure this would be another trinket . . . :( Oh well. I'm kinda ok with it, since I'm due for 4 golden chests over the next week. What's a little more time to accrue them? Now on to the art! I've got a story idea germinating as well, I'll do a second ping if I end up writing it today after schoolwork. Had some art for Ianthia already, but had to change it once I realize what direction her part in the story was taking. So here's Ianthia 2.0! [img]https://i.imgur.com/6v1CFNb.png[/img] Wanted to make something for Davin but couldn't really figure out anything good.

[img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/food/8106.png[/img] @fenshae @TheAwesoMew @Farsidejr First thought when I saw this drop: ok, great, now I have to come up with another mission. First thought when I rolled the coliseum team: hmm. This just got interesting. ------------- "I hope this isn't rude of me at all . . . Why doesn't Auria speak?" Zephyr asked. "I always get the feeling that she disapproves of me." Ariox shrugged. "I don't really know why, actually. I don't think anyone does, besides grief. I told you about my grandparents, didn't I?" Zephyr nodded. "That's all I know." "I can say the same." Theran walked into the cavern from the sunlight. He glanced over at the ever-silent watcher in question. "I don't remember her the way she was before she went silent. Sapphy claims she does, but it's just a sound, not a real memory." "It's so sad, though," Zephyr remarked. "It's like she's alive but dead inside." For a moment, silence pervaded the cavern. And in that moment, it struck. Three massive tentacles of black wrapped around the nearest dragon, retreating back into the cave before anyone could react. Auria dived in after it, snarling hoarsely. "Auria! ARIOX!" Calling out for the missing dragons, Zephyr and Theran dove down into the cave, following the trail of sludge to a large hole in the side of the passage. Rubble lay scattered on the rocky foor, as if it had burst out of the earth itself. "This tunnel . . . wasn't here before." Theran said, pulling up short to examine the hole. "No time for that!" Zephyr hissed. "Come on!" She could hear the roars of dragons just ahead. A glimpse of light pulled Zephyr up short. The sound of scrabbling claws sounded behind her. "It's just me," Theran whispered. Right, Mirror heat vision. She moved aside, catching the outline of Theran's silhouette against the dim light as her eyes adjusted. "Are they in there?" she asked. "Yes," Theran replied, moving into the new section of cavern. It was small, smaller than the chamber at the cave entrance. The creature's bulk sat in the far side of the room, tentacles waving. Ariox hung limply in it's grasp, head lolling about as his body was flung around. It didn't seem to know what it was doing with him. Sometimes tentacles stabbed at his body, others let go. Some lashed at Auria, who clawed at it, sparks from disused magic crackling around her clawtips and scorching where she made contact. Zephyr had to admit, it was quite a spectacle. "I'll help Auria, you distract it," Theran ordered, immediately charging out to join Auria. As the two drew more and more tentacles toward them, Zephyr slipped unnoticed around the side. She'd have to be in and out quickly, the way those tentacles were moving. There weren't really that many holding onto Ariox, just a few well-placed wind slashes and then . . . She saw it. At the very top of the creature's – head? face? body? It really was nothing more than a ball with tentacles attached. A something glowed, embedded in it's skin. Zephyr dove for it on a hunch, detaching the thing and shooting as high up as she could before it could react. The monster dissolved into a pile of black sludge. Zephyr let out a shriek of horror as Ariox fell. Luckily, it wasn't a long one. "Are you two all right?" Theran asked. He was almost completely covered in black gore, Auria a similarly-colored shadow. The Pearlcatcher was rooting through the muck nearby. "I am," Zephyr responded. "But I don't think Ariox is!" She shook the dragon in question. "Wake up, Ariox! Please, wake up!" Theran's claw calmed her, though his voice betrayed his own worry. "Let's get him back up to the sunlight. Lunus should be able to fix-" Auria dropped an object between them, then sat back, returning to her watching. Zephyr eyed the silent Pearlcatcher warily as she picked up the object, scraping off the muck as best she could. A largish rock, carved with a rune, lay in her claws. "What's this?" Theran stared at the rock for a while, a dark look coming across his face. "I've seen a rock like this before . . . Keep it on you. I'll show it to Mercuria and Sakurako once they're back." • • • • • • In another part of Sornieth, Ianthia staggered from a buffet to the face. "Idiot! You were supposed to capture him, not kill him! Why did I ever take such a bloodthirsty, power-hungry mongrel as my apprentice?" [i]It wouldn't have been destroyed if you'd let me do what I planned,[/i] Ianthia thought, but she bit down before the words exited her mouth. "I'm sorry, Darkmage," she said in reply. Her master's parting words stung more than she cared to admit. "Show me actual results, Ianthia. Then, I'll teach you everything you want to know." "I will," she promised.

[img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/food/23869.png[/img] @fenshae @TheAwesoMew @Farsidejr --------------- Since the attack from the strange monster, Ariox had recuperated well, though his head had only just stopped aching. Almost a week later, and he was back in the local training fields, clearing out the occasional pest. But he could never stay there for long before heading over to Zephyr. The two always met at a spot in the woods by the river. His mother Sapphira had found them there once; apparently she'd gone there herself in her own juvenile days. However, she'd left it to them, as far as he knew. Now, he pushed through the trees into the small clearing, sunlight causing him to squint for a moment after the shade of the forest. No sign of Zephyr. He advanced into the clearing, head swinging this way and that. Odd. Usually she was here before him. "Up here, silly!" A weight suddenly landed across his neck and shoulders as Zephyr dropped down, draping herself on top of him. Ariox chuckled. "Next time I'll think of that," he promised. "You say that every time," Zephyr teased. Ariox flicked his tongue out at her in mock annoyance. Now it was Zephyr's turn to make a face. There was nothing he liked to do more than talk to her. They talked about everything and sometimes nothing too. Ariox talked about how well he'd recovered, Zephyr talked about visiting family in the Windswept Plateau. Like most Spirals, she could talk, but Ariox was a dragon of few words himself, so he was perfectly fine just listening. Like many evenings before, the two found themselves napping after a while. Unlike many evenings before, Zephyr shook Ariox awake. "Whaz wrong?" Ariox asked, blinking his eyes several times to adjust to the darkness. Eyes wide, Zephyr just wordlessly pointed. "Oh." • • • • • Sapphira awoke to her son shushing her. He looked more scared than she'd seen him in a while. "What's wrong?" she hissed. "Come and see," Ariox whispered back. He sounded sick with fear. Sapphira woke Theran and followed Ariox out of the cave, into the woods. In the same clearing that she and Theran had discovered their romance, Zephyr sat, coiled around something and looking about as scared as Ariox. "What's going on?" Sapphira asked warily. Zephyr wordlessly uncoiled, her silence scaring Sapphira more than her son's. Safely huddled beneath Zephyr's tail were five dragon eggs. "Oh Zephyr, Ariox . . . I'm so sorry," Sapphira managed, fighting back irrational anger. Those two were good together, she would give them that, but they weren't ready for hatchlings by any means. Theran took a different approach. "Five! That's amazing! I wonder how many will be Mirrors and how many Spirals? They'll definitely have runes –" Sapphira smacked him. "Shush! That's the last thing they need right now." To the two soon-to-be-new parents, she said, "Let's take the eggs to our lair for now. It's closer than Zephyr's. I'll go to your parents in the morning and tell them what's happened." "Thanks," Zephyr replied, voice sounding choked. "I'll get something to carry them safely," Ariox volunteered. "You stay here, I'll do that," Theran overruled, and off he charged. Sapphira was left in the clearing with a tense silence. "You're upset," Ariox noted flatly. Zephyr looked like she was about to cry. "I don't approve of this – at all – but I can do no more about it than you two," Sapphira responded carefully. "For now, lets focus on the problem in front of us." ----------- [img]http://flightrising.com/images/nests/10/5healthy_0dead.png[/img] Holy Green Gladekeeper, guys! Five eggs! FIVE!! My first five-egger! I feel about as excited as Theran right now, lol

WOO! Yay for five-egg nests! Hope you get some good hatches out of it