Age cradled her daughter. The tundra hatchling had only just fallen asleep. She had proved to be a curious child, always exploring and getting into things she wasn't supposed to be getting into. Age admired her enthusiasm, but she certainly kept her busy. The queen was getting stronger after her illness, but she still had a lot on her plate between Jett's threat and raising a new baby. It hadn't helped that the other two hatchlings had disappeared shortly after their hatching, pulled away by what Age now assumed to be the curse.
She hadn't taken Jett's threat very seriously. Jett had always liked to talk big, but he never seemed to follow through. After overthrowing and defeating Heaven, Jett seemed like a small thing to worry about. The kingdom was growing strong, it would take a lot for one dragon to overthrow it.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and Bridget shifted slightly, stirring but not waking. Age kissed her daughter on the head and called for the newcomer to enter. When the door opened, she was surprised to see now one dragon, but two. Neither of them were dragons she had met before.
"Can I help you?" Age said, looking up at them in surprise. The gaoler took up a significant part of the room. Her shoulder spikes had left scratches on the doorframe. Her nose was wrinkled in some sort of distaste. Beside, her, the pearlcatcher seemed tiny.
"Queen Age, my name is Blackwolf I've been waiting for a chance to speak to you for some time, but I heard of your illness and new child and figured it could wait until a more convenient time," The pearlcatcher said. "But then I met Ragna and I knew this could not wait. I'm sorry to say it, but your kingdom is in terrible danger."
"Is this about Jett?" Age asked, perking up a little.
"At first, I thought it was, but it appears to be something deeper than this," Blackwolf said solemnly. "Years ago, when I started my travels, I had a terrible dream. There were dark clouds filling the sky, rumbling with a terrible darkness. I've been traveling Sornieth trying to find the source of this terrible vision, and when I arrived hear, I realized that this is the place it will come to pass. Ragna confirmed my suspicions."
"Well, we know about the curse," Age admitted. "If that's what the dream is about."
"I'm afraid its more than that," Ragna said. "Your so-called curse is actually a protection spell, a powerful one, but its been wearing down in the years since it was first cast. There is residual magic, yes, but that's not what's been causing problems. In fact, the 'curse' has been helping you fight, as best as it can in its weakened state."
"What do you mean?" Age asked, confused.
"Have you lost hatchlings?" Ragna asked.
"I've had three hatchlings disappear in a flash of light, two of them from my most recent nest," Age recalled. "And others have had disappearances from their nests."
"That's what remains of the spell in its purest form, protecting the most innocent by pulling them out of danger," Ragna explained.
"But what could be so dangerous that it's safer for them to be out there, without care, than in here?" Age asked, growing concerned.
"This whole city reeks of The Shade," Ragna said, wrinkling her nose again. "I'm relatively new to the seeker order, but I have never smelled it as strong as I have here. It seems that because the spell that was cast was incomplete, there was another power that filled the void. It's been twisting the curse, using it to grow stronger."
"The Shade," Age repeated weakly, feeling her stomach turn.
"If I may be so bold as to ask, have you been touched by The Shade? It's stench lingers on you, and on your daughter," Ragna asked.
"I recently fell very ill," Age admitted. "I thought it had something to do with the curse, but its very likely that its Shade related if that's whats been hunting us down."
"That's what I thought," Ragna sighed. "If you don't mind, may I make another bold request?"
Age nodded, unable to bring any words to her mouth. She had a feeling that the gaoler would have proceeded with or without her permission anyways.
"You've fought off The Shade and gained control of it, but your daughter has but had the chance to fight it. It lingers inside her, dormant, but it could be awakened at any time," Ragna explained. "Could I take her and look after her, teach her the gaoler ways of fighting The Shade, so that she may be strong and fight it?"
"Can't you stay here at the palace and teach her here?" Age asked.
"This sort of training is most effective if its fully immersive, especially for tundras, because of your memory capacities," Ragna explained. "The choice is yours, but its in her best interest that she learns to contain and fight The Shade while she is still young. I recognize that this is not fully your decision to make, you have a mate and family involved, but I strongly recommend you give her to me to raise."
"Thank you, both of you," Age sighed. "Could you give me the space now? You've both given me a lot to think about."
"Of course, your majesty," Ragna dipped into a bow, followed by Blackwolf.
"Please, there's no need for any formality like that. I've never insisted upon it," Age pleaded.
"Very well," Ragna nodded. "I'll be speaking to you again soon, to see what you decide."
The two dragons left, leaving Age with a spinning mind and an impossible decision.
Frederick lumbered towards the den he had made for himself in one of the abandoned buildings of the city. It had been a very successful day, which was what he needed after the detour he had taken.
Frederick has just been out collecting ingredients for his alchemy when he had been pulled into the city. It had taken time to build up his stores, but he had managed to find an abandoned alchemy lab and had begun gathering ingredients again.
Today, he had stumbled upon a great prize, a valued ingredient. He could hardly believe his luck, they had been just lying there, two perfect shadow eggs. He hadn't been able to get his hands on any eggs since he had been driven from his clan for the very same crime.
Suddenly, there was a thud in front of him as a masked wildclaw landed on the street before him, beady eyes glaring out from beneath his birdskull. Electricity coursed through his armor, and he began slowly advancing on the bogsneak. Feeling nervous, he turned to slip down a side alley, only to find a rather angry looking nocturne blocking his path.
"Now, look right here you little scoundrel, you better give those eggs back here right away, or my mate and I are going to make you regret ever being born, you mangy thief!" The nocturne growled, advancing on the bogsneak.
"Hey, there's no need to get hasty, I'm sure we can work through something!" Frederick pleaded, backing away from the nocturne and pasting a smile on his face. He bumbled into the wildclaw, who grabbed him by the tail, holding it tight. Electricity coursed through his arm, stopping right just before it reached his talons.
"Give them back now and I won't burn you to an absolute crisp," The wildclaw growled, letting through just enough lightning magic to send a tingle through the bogsneak's body.
"Alright, alright, that works too," Frederick cowered, sliding the eggs back to the nocturne.
"We'll be keeping an eye on you," the wildclaw warned.
"Duly noted," Frederick wrinkled his nose, then slunk away, squeezing past the nocturne and hiding away in the alleyway. It looked like he was going to have to be a bit more careful with his work.
Something was up with Pomona and Bonegnasher. They kept casting each other lovey-dovey glances and giggling at each other. Karma had been expecting this behaviour with their recent budding relationship, but for the most part, they had been good at keeping their touchy-feely stuff to a minimum when she was around, allowing them to exist as three friends, the way they had been before.
Karma was trying to keep her thoughts to herself, but after Bone started feeding Pomona from his hand, she just had to say something.
"Okay, I've had enough, this is getting out of hand. What you two do one your own time, between the two of you, is your own business. I'm not going to live under the same roof as this if you two are just going to be caught up in each others eyes forever," Karma shot back, slamming her fists on the table.
"We're sorry Karma, it's just that we have some news," Bone said, smiling at Pomona.
"Oh, and what is that?" Karma rolled her eyes. "Are you dating? Because strangely enough, I've figured that one out for myself."
"Karma, Bone and I have a nest," Pomona said, grinning softly. There was an excited light in her eyes, unlike anything Karma had ever seen before.
"Oh, well, that's great," Karma sniffed, turning away.
She wanted to be excited for them, but she just couldn't. How long would it be before Bone and Pomona had their own perfect family and she was left alone in the dust? Why couldn't she have family like that? Why did she have to be left with one that was so broken? What would she do if she lost all that, and she was all that was left of what the three of them had once built?
Backlog: Art (x2)
Oh man, that was a lot to try to fit into one chapter. I don't know what's gotten into Pink these past few days, its just new dragons everywhere!
I was planning on the shade reveal being some big climactic thing near the end of the pinkerlocke, but then I got a second gaoler and while I could excuse Ulf as not being able to smell the shade, things would get a bit too suspicious if there were two gaolers who had this deficit. So here it is, you get to learn more about the true nature of the curse!
Also, if anyone wants either of Bridget's siblings, they will be available for adoption until they are grown up. The first is a boy, the second is a girl.
Whittling down on them is my plan, especially if I can combine some of them with Inktober prompts!
