Akiela

Akiela
Clan Leader



"There are no bad questions; a curious mind is a healthy mind!"

The Royal War



In the earlier days of the proud clan, Akiela possessed a full, beautiful plumage of rosy colors. Her soft, pleasing colors caught the eyes of a traveling alchemist who quickly built up the courage to speak to the beautiful dragoness. The alchemist's name was Orion, proudly knowing this was a namesake of one of the many constellations the Arcanist watches over. With his skills in alchemy and Akiela's skills in Arcane magic, the two Coatls connected their hearts into one, bearing children together. But as Akiela continued to take charge of her clan, Orion grew weary of being under command of a "queen." Akiela tried to reason with him, offering him many important roles in leadership, but Orion's heart was not satisfied. He felt it was him who deserved the crown Akiela has always worn on her head, and if tearing into her meant getting his greedy claws on it, so be it. Orion waited until the dawn of the light's touch when Akiela chose to rest. During the deepest hour of her slumber, Orion tore into the witch's neck and stole the crown. A shrill cry had echoed across the clan and the first members to hear this cry were Foren and Ruby. They ran to Akiela's den as fast as they could, but were too late. Orion was already seen flying a far distance with the crown upon his head and Akiela, with a deep, crimson wound on her neck, was fading to an ill white. A betrayal had occurred. War was declared onto the clan.



Foren tried his best to heal Akiela as well as he could, but despite sealing the wound as best as he could, her rosy plumage was not returning. It was like Orion had cursed her with a broken heart, an attack much more destructive than any wound. A deathly poison from the alchemist's bite rushed through Akiela's veins and the dragons knew that she would soon be gone. They just could not let that happen! While Ruby wanted to chase after Orion right away and battle, Foren wished to save Akiela with a much more advanced revival spell. But do to so, Foren needed a special ingredient that's held in high value and rarity. To Ruby's displeasure, she too needed to halt and make preparations before confronting their traitor. The local fortune teller, Gemini, could foresee where exactly the dragons needed to go in order to rescue Akiela; for she knew exactly where Orion was going and what preparations to make. She ordered Foren to make haste to the Ghostlight Ruins and ordered Ruby to head to the Scorched Forest. The answer to their many questions were located in those dangerous regions.



After some time, the two dragons returned safely, and with allies they had met on their flights. Foren successfully saved Akiela and Ruby now was able to safely track down Orion. He made his way into a dangerous Ice lair out of cowardly nature, knowing full well that the Sokuna clan would avenge their leader. He left to seek out Akiela's original apprentice, Venus. With her obedience and power, she could assist Orion in taking down the clan for him to lead once and for all. Amethyst insisted that Akiela stayed home and rest while the fighters of the clan go out to confront their traitor. After the long and treacherous journey through the harsh blizzards, Venus and Orion were both captured along with some other troops from the clan. Orion was then executed and the clan rested. Although Akiela's magic and strength have since then returned to her, her plumage has not fully recovered. Nobody knows for sure why this is. Some say it's a result of deep grief. Whatever the reason, it gave Akiela the uneasy foresight that this wasn't the end of the wars. A clan that is so rich in magic resources and knowledge is bound to be caught in rumors and whispers, and along those rumors comes the word of desiring peace, freedom, and equality. Those do not come for free, as they are traits that all clans envy to a certain degree and will try to steal. Orion's betrayal was a tragic event, but many more wars were seen on the horizon. A good thing that came out of this, however, is when Akiela could see Foren's courage and skills in magic, and wrote in her will to have him inherit her throne whenever she passes away.


The Grand War




As Akiela foresaw, this was not yet the end of the battles against Sokuna. During the battle against Orion's clan, a bay between the Starfall Isles and the Southern Icefields was caught in crossfire. This bay was indeed inhabited, and the dragon who led the currents of the area sent an S.O.S. to her allies. Starting off with Mevia of the Viridian Labyrinth, she had backed up allies that prepared to strike Sokuna for attacking their friend. This distressed dragon was named Usorai, and she was mostly concerned for the aquatic life that was effected by magic radiation. It saddened Akiela to see this happen again so soon, but she knew she couldn't just sit and watch her clan get attacked. They needed to fight back. And so it began, the biggest war Sokuna had ever seen. A clan from each elemental region had ended up getting involved in the bloody war, as so many collisions and betrayals were to form from the war. But this did also mean more allies for Sokuna. This became what is now known as The Grand War.



Among the chaos of the different branches of the war, Akiela flew out to gather reinforcements. An old friend of hers, Agora of the Shifting Expanse. Akiela knew Agora from her earlier travels in life where she wanted to learn about the other elements, but to her dismay, she caught him causing more harm than good with his Lightning element. When she tried to stop him, Agora wouldn't listen, thus the two of them started their own magic duel in the dry, vast desert. Agora underestimated Akiela, as her plumage made her seem like she'd be a weak opponent, but she proved him wrong. The battle stayed tight with loud booms of lightning strikes and magic explosions erupting left and right. During this battle, Foren had tagged along with Akiela, but ended up having his own troubles. He was in the middle of fighting Agora's apprentice, Paluma. Although that battle had a much different approach from the one Akiela and Agora were having, it still kept him on his toes.



Akiela and Agora were both getting weary, but didn't want to surrender. It finally took Foren to come out and stop them. He ended up winning the battle against Paluma, but instead of leaving her to die, he healed her wounds and asked her to stop fighting. Paluma started to plead to Agora to stop fighting as well, in which he glared at Akiela menacingly.
"What is the meaning of this?" He growled, not liking the idea of Akiela using HIS student as HER shield. Paluma once again pleaded Agora to stop fighting and to listen to what these "guests" had to say. Agora felt obliged to listen, but was eventually persuaded to serve as Akiela's backup. He proved to be a great fighter and started to let arrogance get to his head. But that was good news for Akiela, as it meant he wanted to be THE best fighter in the war. He put away his past problems to focus on the Grand War where he's managed to stay on Sokuna's side since. It's probably all thanks to Paluma.



The Grand War seemed to be going on for months. Many died and many were left injured, as well as many clans getting involved through strange twists and events. Akiela was starting to fear that it would never end, until they finally found what may be the answer to the end... a horrific beast which was seen on the horizon. Mages cancelled their spells. Fighters let go of their opponents they were biting. Healers froze and tensed up. All dragons involved in the battle watched in terror, as they witnessed together a horrific phenomenon that none thought they'd ever see in their lifetime. The legends were true, and were proven right before them; an Emperor had appeared.
"What have we done...?" Akiela spoke under her breath. "Gods, have mercy on us all..."




Most dragons stood and watched, not knowing what to do at this point. Some were foolish enough to challenge the Emperor in battle, including Akiela's son, Foren. She chased after him to stop him, knowing very well that a fragile Fae would never stand a chance against an Emperor. She lost sight of him and feared the worst. She flew to the battlefield where the Emperor was rampaging and managed to find Foren, injured, but still alive. She scolded him for his recklessness, but was nonetheless happy to see him alive. Foren gave Akiela a stern look.
"That was foolish of me. But I think I know now what we need to do. Go to the shrine just outside of Sokuna, NOW!" Akiela had never heard Foren make such bold orders to her before, so she was rather shocked.
"I'm not going to leave you here alone, Foren!" Akiela argued. "I'm NOT going to lose you!"
"I'm not STAYING here." Replied Foren. "I'm going to talk to the leaders of the other clans! Just go, offer your prayers to the Arcanist! We have no time to lose!" Akiela thought of it. She DID write in her will that Foren is to be Sokuna's future leader. She needed to learn to trust him, so she nodded, and left for the shrine.



Akiela made it to the shrine near Sokuna and prayed and pleaded to the Arcanist. As the hour went on, she felt a rumble... and then another... one of the rumbles felt close, but she heard more in the distance, almost like thunder. Soon, before her eyes, she could see the presence of the deities themselves, emerging to take down the Emperor. Their powers were too great for the beast and within a flash, they all disappeared, as well as the Emperor. The air was still. Eventually, Foren came home to Sokuna with all the other clan leaders behind him, no longer fighting each other. He had ordered them all to pray to their deities in order to bring them all together to take down the Emperor. It was then when they all realized that fighting each other was only stirring up more chaos, but using their elements together was able to restore peace. The war had finally ended and each leader who had offered their prayers to their deity became their flight's representative in Sokuna, where the legacy of elemental coexistence lives on. Sokuna has been a peaceful clan ever since, where dragons from all over come to live in harmony. Akiela has even learned how to create portals for fast travel so they can have quick access to visiting other clans.



Art by Killuazoomyck!