Calamity

Nikolai was not a gentle teacher. He believed firmly that an aspiring warrior either kept up or caught up, there was no easy start. The first battle he brought the older, yet less experienced dragon into was in the kelp beds. Calamity was badly wounded by the first relic eel they encountered, and regained consciousness with Judgement standing over him, conferring with Nikolai.

"I swear it, we need a proper healer. I may be a Skydancer, but that doesn't mean I'm a medic." It huffed, ruffling it's feathers in frustration. "You're going to kill one of them, you know."

"Am... Am I dead?" Calamity murmured, almost prayerfully. "Did we die together?" He pulled himself closer to Nikolai with his front talons, "I want to become one with you... If we've died, let's become an Emperor together."

Judgement took a nervous step back when the injured Imperial started crawling, but Nikolai wasn't phased. He curled a wing over the injured male and nuzzled his mane. "If you want to die with me, my pet, you'll have to become stronger." He purred, his soft breath ghosting over Calamity's scales, "It will take far more than that to kill me."

The battle to level 10 was a slow, painful climb for Calamity, and Nikolai would not appoint him any stat points until he could prove his mettle. By the time he'd reached the plateau, the only apparel he would be wearing for a while was bandages. It was worth it, though. That night, Nikolai let him curl up under his much larger wing and nuzzled him until he fell asleep.

"I'm proud." The king had murmured, "you'll be a fine warrior soon."

Calamity was inconsolable. The very night he'd reached his first level goal, Firebrand had brought home a scraggy Mirror who wanted to serve the Icewarden, and Nikolai had accepted immediately. Worse, he'd seen potential in the lesser dragon, and decided instead to make a warrior of him, and Calamity's training had been pushed aside.

"Eat." Veritas prompted, nudging a bowl toward him.

"Without food, you'll weaken." Finished Aequitas, "If you weaken, Nikolai will never let you wear it."

He had trained for more reasons than one. His end goal hadn't changed, he still wanted to become one with the clan leader, but Nikolai had promised him that at level 15, he could begin wearing pieces of his funeral shroud. "Fine." He snarled, digging into his dinner. He never tasted it.

When Nikolai resumed his training, his pride was obvious. Level 15 was much easier than level 10, and once he reached it, his king allowed him to wear the gossamer shroud he so desperately wanted.

"My pet," the King purred, "you've done well with your training. You may choose any familiar you would like, and we will hunt it together."

"I want a Nochnyr." Calamity decided, and from then on, they began their hunt.

So much had changed since he's first come to the clan. He was level 25 now, a true warrior, and Nikolai trusted him at his back. Often, he would join Nikolai and Firebrand to form a hunting party. Judgement never seemed to join the hunt when he was along, but it was okay, Judgement couldn't become an emperor.

Another change came in the form of Oberon. He was like nothing Calamity had ever seen. His sleek scales always streaked with the slow dripping of his own blood, and his voice unable to rise above a whisper. The mystery of him was enough to keep the would-be emperor's attention.