Day 7: The Sleepers
Marlene lay prone, eyes closed blissfully as he felt the prickle of tiny claws dancing up and down his body. His eyes opened wide when he felt himself tugged suddenly backward a body length by his tail. Turning, he flipped his tail against his daughter's nose, and she chirped innocently in response. She was an imperial like her mother and already as large as he was, he was astounded to see. Eekiri chirped again and bounded forward to touch noses with her father.
He looked into her eyes and recalled Shirva's low distressed keening when Eekiri had first opened them. They were tinged with red but bore a light greenish gold center, as though two elements fought a war in her gaze. The keening had continued when the other little ones had hatched. Adoro and Shensa, skydancers like their father, had eyes the bright red of a Plaguelands native. Adoro's were as dark as old blood and they observed everything with a preternatural calmness. Shensa's were bright and alert, flashing like rubies with every quick jerk of her head.
Their last child, Makh, was also an imperial. He had not fought to exit his egg as the others had, but merely lay curled within the shell, eyes squeezed shut. Marlene had pried him free, but he had continued to lay motionless while Shensa climbed over him and took quick tearing jabs at his body like a carrion bird. Shirva's keening morphed into a distressed croon, and finally the little imperial opened his eyes. They were milky and had the same quality as Eekiri's, that of being at war. Makh had made a small rumble of disappointment as he blearily surveyed his surroundings and then curled back around himself.
A shadow fell over Marlene and he tensed, rising and shielding the little ones with his body. He relaxed when he saw it was Shirva. They bumped heads affectionately as the three little ones clambered to greet their mother. "We can't keep them concealed forever," Shirva cautioned, looking around as she shepherded the hatchlings back toward the sheltering rocks. "We have to find a way to get them out of here before they're found out."
"I can help with that," a strange voice called from the corner of the Pit. Shirva immediately threw her bulk in front of the hatchlings, baring every one of her teeth. Marlene flared his wings, vainly trying to obscure them from view.
"Who said that?" Shirva snapped, looking around. "Show yourself!" In answer, a small frog hopped into the scant light. Shensa immediately leaped from between her mother's legs to pounce on it. It tried to hop away, but the baby skydancer clutched it. Eekiri burbled in dismay and smacked the frog out of her sister's hold. Turning, the young imperial tried to swipe the frog for herself, but the frog had scooted away as fast as it could. It was scooped up back into the shadows before a hooded dragon stepped forward.
She had several frogs resting in crevices in her clothing and one balanced precariously on her snout. She cradled a large worn tome against her side. To Shirva, she seemed to flicker momentarily in the light. Adoro and Shensa immediately flocked to her, entranced by the immense amount of magical energy that flowed from her and flooded their senses. Marlene tried to sift through the energies and felt relief when he could detect none of the malignant ones the mages of Tva'Kadith wielded.
"My name is Cypress. I am one of the Sleepers. I can get your little ones to safety."
"Sleepers?" Marlene asked.
"Follow me," Cypress said, turning and leading them through a crevice that Marlene hadn't noticed before. It too was swimming with magical energy and opened into a broad space lit sparsely with glowing piles of stone. Ranged around the cavern were the prone bodies of dragons, breathing slowly and evenly. Cypress carefully picked her way over a snoring guardian and stood above a wildclaw that lay splayed out, legs and wings akimbo. She looked down and then back up at the family. Marlene blinked rapidly, unable to believe what he was seeing. Cypress was standing over her own body.
"This place is concealed from the mages of this clan by our own magical workings. We've put ourselves into a sleep so deep it is like hibernation." She hefted the book from her side, reverently tracing the glowing rune on its cover. "This book helped us do it. Nobody else can travel like this, though. But I can. I can travel outside of the Pit, and I can take things with me." She met Shirva's and then Marlene's eyes evenly. "I can get them out." Her eyes lit and she plucked a toad from her shoulder with a bright grin. "Just like I take my friends out! Chuggy and I will help your little ones."
"Yes," Shirva said immediately. "Take them. Take them now." Marlene felt a bolt of panic and he hurriedly scooped up Adoro before his son could step on the face of a sleeping spiral.
"Shirva, wait! We don't know this dragon! We don't know anything about her."
"They can't stay here, Marlene." Shirva's voice was flat and final.
"You could come with me!" Cypress said brightly. "I can free you all! It will have to be two at a time, though."
"When can you start?" Shirva asked.
"Now," Cypress said. "Right now."
"Send me first," Marlene said, "so that I can wait for them." Nodding, Cypress didn't wait for another word. She stepped forward and placed a claw on Marlene's shoulder. All three dragons vanished in a flash of brilliant light. Shensa squawked indignantly and Shirva hushed her, looking around apprehensively. The air continued to be silent and still, with the only sound being that of soft sleeping exhalations.
Cypress returned, her form flickering a bit more than it had been before. "They're safe," she assured Shirva. They're outside the bounds of the Wandering Contagion."
"If I leave this cavern to go and get my son, can I return to it?" Shirva asked, thinking of Makh. "I don't know that I can find it again, since you said it was magically hidden."
"Now that you have seen it, you will be able to find it again," Cypress assured. "Come here, little cutie," she added, crooning to Shensa who promptly leaped up and nipped the wildclaw's nose. Shirva slid through the crevice and went to collect Makh from his hiding place. Her son merely mewled and then drooped against his mother. Crooning worriedly, she returned to the wildclaw and laid Makh before her. Shensa hopped onto her brother and strutted back and forth across the length of his body.
"Let's go, little ones," Cypress called cheerfully, touching them both and vanishing in another flash of light, this one less bright than the last. Eekiri blinked rapidly at the disappearance. Then she turned and bounded toward Cypress's prone actual body. Peering at it, she nosed the wildclaw's foot gently. Shirva hurriedly pulled her away, worried that disrupting Cypress's physical form might cause some sort of interference with the magic.
Cypress returned, but her form was now wavering like a guttering candle. Her feathers looked dulled and she seemed exhausted. "I can't do another like that, I didn't realize how big..." her astral form crumpled to the floor. "The little one can stay safe in here, until I can try again. You can too," she added tiredly.
"I must go back, or they'll wonder and look for me. They'll rend this place to find me, they won't be denied their sacrifice." Cypress nodded distractedly. "She'll be safe here?"
"She will, they won't find her. She won't need food or drink here, either." Cypress's form winked out of existence and the frogs and toads that had perched on her tumbled to the floor with soft plops. They immediately began to hop to her physical body, lining up along it as though she were a log.
Shirva nuzzled her daughter sadly, placing a forepaw on the hatchling's shoulder. "Stay here, Eekiri. Stay here until I return for you. Do not come out, no matter what. STAY." She added when Eekiri bounded after her. The little imperial's dismayed shriek followed Shirva from the sleeper's secret cave.
Eekiri waited in the dark among the sleepers. Her mother or her father would come, they had to. It was scary here, she thought. A small peep turned her head. One of the toads had left Cypress and come over to say hello. With a sniffle, Eekiri bumped the toad's nose very gently. The toad peeped again and then hopped back toward Cypress. Eekiri followed, feeling herself weighed down with tiredness. She curled against Cypress and fell into a deep sleep of her own.
Marlene lay prone, eyes closed blissfully as he felt the prickle of tiny claws dancing up and down his body. His eyes opened wide when he felt himself tugged suddenly backward a body length by his tail. Turning, he flipped his tail against his daughter's nose, and she chirped innocently in response. She was an imperial like her mother and already as large as he was, he was astounded to see. Eekiri chirped again and bounded forward to touch noses with her father.
He looked into her eyes and recalled Shirva's low distressed keening when Eekiri had first opened them. They were tinged with red but bore a light greenish gold center, as though two elements fought a war in her gaze. The keening had continued when the other little ones had hatched. Adoro and Shensa, skydancers like their father, had eyes the bright red of a Plaguelands native. Adoro's were as dark as old blood and they observed everything with a preternatural calmness. Shensa's were bright and alert, flashing like rubies with every quick jerk of her head.
Their last child, Makh, was also an imperial. He had not fought to exit his egg as the others had, but merely lay curled within the shell, eyes squeezed shut. Marlene had pried him free, but he had continued to lay motionless while Shensa climbed over him and took quick tearing jabs at his body like a carrion bird. Shirva's keening morphed into a distressed croon, and finally the little imperial opened his eyes. They were milky and had the same quality as Eekiri's, that of being at war. Makh had made a small rumble of disappointment as he blearily surveyed his surroundings and then curled back around himself.
A shadow fell over Marlene and he tensed, rising and shielding the little ones with his body. He relaxed when he saw it was Shirva. They bumped heads affectionately as the three little ones clambered to greet their mother. "We can't keep them concealed forever," Shirva cautioned, looking around as she shepherded the hatchlings back toward the sheltering rocks. "We have to find a way to get them out of here before they're found out."
"I can help with that," a strange voice called from the corner of the Pit. Shirva immediately threw her bulk in front of the hatchlings, baring every one of her teeth. Marlene flared his wings, vainly trying to obscure them from view.
"Who said that?" Shirva snapped, looking around. "Show yourself!" In answer, a small frog hopped into the scant light. Shensa immediately leaped from between her mother's legs to pounce on it. It tried to hop away, but the baby skydancer clutched it. Eekiri burbled in dismay and smacked the frog out of her sister's hold. Turning, the young imperial tried to swipe the frog for herself, but the frog had scooted away as fast as it could. It was scooped up back into the shadows before a hooded dragon stepped forward.
She had several frogs resting in crevices in her clothing and one balanced precariously on her snout. She cradled a large worn tome against her side. To Shirva, she seemed to flicker momentarily in the light. Adoro and Shensa immediately flocked to her, entranced by the immense amount of magical energy that flowed from her and flooded their senses. Marlene tried to sift through the energies and felt relief when he could detect none of the malignant ones the mages of Tva'Kadith wielded.
"My name is Cypress. I am one of the Sleepers. I can get your little ones to safety."
"Sleepers?" Marlene asked.
"Follow me," Cypress said, turning and leading them through a crevice that Marlene hadn't noticed before. It too was swimming with magical energy and opened into a broad space lit sparsely with glowing piles of stone. Ranged around the cavern were the prone bodies of dragons, breathing slowly and evenly. Cypress carefully picked her way over a snoring guardian and stood above a wildclaw that lay splayed out, legs and wings akimbo. She looked down and then back up at the family. Marlene blinked rapidly, unable to believe what he was seeing. Cypress was standing over her own body.
"This place is concealed from the mages of this clan by our own magical workings. We've put ourselves into a sleep so deep it is like hibernation." She hefted the book from her side, reverently tracing the glowing rune on its cover. "This book helped us do it. Nobody else can travel like this, though. But I can. I can travel outside of the Pit, and I can take things with me." She met Shirva's and then Marlene's eyes evenly. "I can get them out." Her eyes lit and she plucked a toad from her shoulder with a bright grin. "Just like I take my friends out! Chuggy and I will help your little ones."
"Yes," Shirva said immediately. "Take them. Take them now." Marlene felt a bolt of panic and he hurriedly scooped up Adoro before his son could step on the face of a sleeping spiral.
"Shirva, wait! We don't know this dragon! We don't know anything about her."
"They can't stay here, Marlene." Shirva's voice was flat and final.
"You could come with me!" Cypress said brightly. "I can free you all! It will have to be two at a time, though."
"When can you start?" Shirva asked.
"Now," Cypress said. "Right now."
"Send me first," Marlene said, "so that I can wait for them." Nodding, Cypress didn't wait for another word. She stepped forward and placed a claw on Marlene's shoulder. All three dragons vanished in a flash of brilliant light. Shensa squawked indignantly and Shirva hushed her, looking around apprehensively. The air continued to be silent and still, with the only sound being that of soft sleeping exhalations.
Cypress returned, her form flickering a bit more than it had been before. "They're safe," she assured Shirva. They're outside the bounds of the Wandering Contagion."
"If I leave this cavern to go and get my son, can I return to it?" Shirva asked, thinking of Makh. "I don't know that I can find it again, since you said it was magically hidden."
"Now that you have seen it, you will be able to find it again," Cypress assured. "Come here, little cutie," she added, crooning to Shensa who promptly leaped up and nipped the wildclaw's nose. Shirva slid through the crevice and went to collect Makh from his hiding place. Her son merely mewled and then drooped against his mother. Crooning worriedly, she returned to the wildclaw and laid Makh before her. Shensa hopped onto her brother and strutted back and forth across the length of his body.
"Let's go, little ones," Cypress called cheerfully, touching them both and vanishing in another flash of light, this one less bright than the last. Eekiri blinked rapidly at the disappearance. Then she turned and bounded toward Cypress's prone actual body. Peering at it, she nosed the wildclaw's foot gently. Shirva hurriedly pulled her away, worried that disrupting Cypress's physical form might cause some sort of interference with the magic.
Cypress returned, but her form was now wavering like a guttering candle. Her feathers looked dulled and she seemed exhausted. "I can't do another like that, I didn't realize how big..." her astral form crumpled to the floor. "The little one can stay safe in here, until I can try again. You can too," she added tiredly.
"I must go back, or they'll wonder and look for me. They'll rend this place to find me, they won't be denied their sacrifice." Cypress nodded distractedly. "She'll be safe here?"
"She will, they won't find her. She won't need food or drink here, either." Cypress's form winked out of existence and the frogs and toads that had perched on her tumbled to the floor with soft plops. They immediately began to hop to her physical body, lining up along it as though she were a log.
Shirva nuzzled her daughter sadly, placing a forepaw on the hatchling's shoulder. "Stay here, Eekiri. Stay here until I return for you. Do not come out, no matter what. STAY." She added when Eekiri bounded after her. The little imperial's dismayed shriek followed Shirva from the sleeper's secret cave.
Eekiri waited in the dark among the sleepers. Her mother or her father would come, they had to. It was scary here, she thought. A small peep turned her head. One of the toads had left Cypress and come over to say hello. With a sniffle, Eekiri bumped the toad's nose very gently. The toad peeped again and then hopped back toward Cypress. Eekiri followed, feeling herself weighed down with tiredness. She curled against Cypress and fell into a deep sleep of her own.
Updates:
Marlene, Shirva, Adoro, Shensa, Makha added to the Fallen.