Thelos

Thelos the Dreamer is the founder of the Clans of the Jenais. A Jenai Dragon uphold curiosity, respect and empathy with other dragons and like-minded creatures. Uncommonly for a Fae, Thelos enjoy traveling, ever since he had the First Dream that led to the creation of his clan.

~ The First Dream and the Great Travel ~

As every Fae in the Spirit Isles knows, there is a special rite of passage to uphold, to be considered an Adult Arcane Fae, which consist of meditating in the Starwood Strands a whole night alone, being lulled to sleep by the myriads of mystic stars that appear at nightfall in the foliage.

During his meditation, Thelos received a special Dream. He dreamed of fire and water, earth and wind, light and darkness, thunderclouds and ice. He dreamed of a long gone pillar, of a fierce battle between life and death, and of a mournful magenta. As the dream washed over him, he saw the world far below him, unfurling like the skinned leather the Arcanist used to record his discoveries, every night, on his tower high above the clouds. He saw ten flames of various colors spring in ten regions, burning high and consuming the world. And he saw them gather in one of the north-eastern reaches of the Starfall Isles, where they burned together, melding in a bright golden light that made him feel at peace.

Fae don't always recover from the meditation. Some of them go mad, others becomes transcended by an higher vision. Thelos was of the second kind. He became transfixed on going out of the Starfall Islands, to these far regions, to understand this dream.

"The world isn't limited to the Isles!" He stammered to his friends. "There are other dragons that we don't know of, other elements that we have no grasp on, so many other things to discover!"

But like many visionary spirits, he was slowly estranged. Others were not interested in what was beyond the Crystalspine Reaches. The Dragons felt at peace in the protected territory of the Arcanist, working on sending whatever materials they stumbled upon to the Observatory, as had been the custom of innumerable eons.

Before long, though, Thelos took his decision.

"I'm going."

And so he left without another word. He crossed the Crystalspine reaches and stumbled upon the low expenses of the Scarred Wasteland. The difference in climate and ambience between the high spires and magical energies permeating the Starfall Islands and the barren wastes in front of the Fae made him queasy. He started realizing that this kind of travel was going to be a massive undertaking - he could not see anything else in front of him other than the empty plains, with something looking like fleshy tendrils somehow growing from the horizon. And that massive landscape made him feel tiny, even tinier than he already felt when he met a Guardian for the first time.

But he had to press on. Something inside was yearning for the discoveries, the hidden secrets, the mysterious wonders still hidden from his sight, far, far away. This was merely the first hurdle. Traveling by day and hiding from sight by night, Thelos moved on. He saw packs of Mirrors that didn't pay him any attention, as they were occupied at hunting larger game than a mere Fae. He saw the plains covered by tendrils, covering magical fey lines that felt unnatural, twisted. Following them, he finally arrived at a large boneyard.

There would be no return if he was to continue on that direction. The energy he had followed so far seemed to distort, waning into a background blur. Suddenly aware that going further without guidance would be dangerous, Thelos decided to exit the Wasteland, and as such set course for the remain of the Pillar he could see from afar. The Plague lands were simply too hazardous.

The diminutive Fae arrived one day at the edge of the fleshy tendrils that had so far be the only feature of the ground he had seen. Here, the trail of energy he followed faded and disappeared, but the land further didn't seemed tainted by decay, like it did so far. Instead, it felt... empty. Barren. Plant and wildlife were scarce. However, something caught the attention of the Fae.

The small dragon had been looking at the Pillar as a reference point for his travel for a bit of time, now, but looking at the horizon, Thelos saw something that bolstered his motivation:

The base of the Pillar was in sight, specifically, the base of the Pillar seemed to plunge into the earth, in a great canyon just at the horizon.

The Fae had made it into Dragonhome, the domain of the Earthshaker.

As luck would want it, though, it would take a bit more time and difficult days before he met the inhabitants of this land. Wildlife was scarce, and dragon lairs, though in appearance plentiful, didn't seem to see frequent use.

Then the Fae saw them.

A group of Snappers dragons, wandering across the expense, on one of their immemorial trails.

Thelos introduced himself to the group leader. The nomads lauded the perseverance of the diminutive dragon, and offered to take him on a journey on their trail. It would take a bit of time before they could reach the inner parts of Dragonhome, these Snappers' road being slightly roundabout, but if he followed them - or even rested on them, for Thelos would not be much of a charge - the Snapper Leader could tell him quite a bit about their history and their land's.

The next few weeks went by with Thelos installed on the leader's back. Each day, they covered more distance on the trail, the Pillar slowly but surely looming closer as the days went by. There were many times were misunderstandings were aplenty, due to Thelos' monochord. In the End, the Fae just gave up, happy to soak the stories of the Snappers during their endless walks.

Then one day, Thelos awoke with the Pillar behind him. The Snappers' trail did not go any closer to the Pillar, drifting again farther, in the distance, the chasm that surrounded it seemingly closing again around the monument's base. When he asked for the reason, the leader answered:

"We don't go any closer than that to the Pillar. The trail here goes East, and East is where we are going."

Dismayed at this unexpected change of events, Thelos asked the leader to be notified of the moment when the trail would no longer go East. Intrigued, the Leader asked the Fae:

"Do you intend on going to the green pastures we heard of in the East?"
"Green pastures?"

Over the last weeks, the only differences in the terrain surrounding him had been the heights of the hills and the rock formations over the barren earth.

"Yes, there are green pastures beyond the East. We don't see them, but the dragons that live there sometimes talk about the flowers they can see blooming there, during the month of the Gladekeeper. It's even farther east than our trail will lead us, but it would put you in the right direction."

Thelos fell into a soft drone that was his way of voicing his thoughts. After some humming, he finally made his choice. The time to part from the welcoming Snapper community would come soon enough, as he didn't intend on bothering them for the whole trail. And as delighted the community was of talking with him, and answering his questions, the leader seemed to be slowly running out of material of interest.

When the trail curved to the North, Thelos bid the caravan goodbye, and headed eastwards. When the sun shone bright, he would slowly climb to higher altitudes, and see a bright emerald island in the middle of a shining blue sea. The view bolstered him with the promises of a more consequent meal - it was difficult traveling without much sustenance throughout Dragonhome, and each day reminded the Fae how lucky he had been to stumble upon the Snapper nomads.

Finally the plains started to decline towards the sea, and the sight of the sapphire water filled Thelos with determination. He flew above the sandy beach, his eyes set for the jade jewel resting close to the horizon: the Viridian Labyrinth.

However, a slight oversight suddenly stroke the Fae. How was he supposed to cross the sea separating the enchanted forest from the mainland? He felt too drained to fly that long, at that point. Slightly annoyed at this turn of event, Thelos decided upon the safest option - he keep to the coast, but head southwards, as the island seemed to come closer to Dragonhome in that direction. And maybe, there, on the coast, he would gather enough energy to cross the sea.

As he went southward, the Fae noticed a weird cloud hanging above the island. Actually, it wasn't even 'above', or it wasn't very far above. It seemed to cling over the sea, close to the coast of the island, over a swamp, like a bunch of...

Bugs.

Hunger overtook the Fae when he realized what the 'cloud' was. A myriad of insects, reflecting the equally bountiful waters of the mangrove swamp bordering the most beautiful field of flowers that Thelos had seen so far on his trip. And there, just in the distance, the keen eyes of the Fae were noticing the large cloud-like formation of insect flying above the waterlilies and between the blooming trees.

It was too much for the Fae. It had been weeks since he had a real insect hunt - he never seemed to find anything else than ants in Dragonhome, which barely satisfied his hunger. The sight of these lush, ripe, fluttering insects was a step too far for the starved Fae. In a momentary lapse of madness, he flew above the sea, the cloud growing as if for welcoming him...

And then everything became a blur. For an unknown amount of time, Thelos was no longer fully aware of his actions. His perception of the world dimmed with the happiness he felt radiating from his belly. The world faded to black, and Thelos felt warm water splashing around him, just before he lost consciousness.

During an inordinate amount of time, Thelos saw a thick blackness around him. Then the dark fog cleared, and he felt the gentle touch of rays of sunlight, and cold blades of grass tickling his back. And claws holding his wings apart, along with water spilling from his mouth. Trying to breath some air, Thelos choked, expelling more water from his muzzle.

"Calm down, little one. I don't mean any harm."

The Fae was freed by his captor and coughed up a bit more salty water, before he could focus on the voice.

A large, winged dragon, the kind of which Thelos saw during his discreet trip through the Wandering Contagion, was silently looking at him from afar.

"... Thank y-"

"Oh, no need to thank me yet, little one. " the Wildclaw cut, an amused expression on its face. "You see, you ended up on the outskirts of the Everbloom garden, simply by drifting onto the sea. More specifically, we are on the edge of the Shrieking Wilds..."

The Fae's fins did a slight move, as if burning to ask an unspoken question. The Wildclaw fangs shone slightly in the sun.

"... And unfortunately for you, I was planning on using you as a trophy for my clan's lair. I guess an epic tale of battle can be added to this story!"

Without further ado, the Wildclaw jumped on Thelos, who was still dizzy from his dip in the sea. The Fae dodged at the last second, eliciting a pleased shriek from his hunter.

"I guess you can defend yourself, at least a little. That makes the hunt all the sweeter!"

The small dragon tried to gain altitude, but his lungs were still sore from the salty water, and his wings weren't fully dry yet. Hoping to gain some time, the Fae managed to land in a nearby tree. Here, he tried to assert his current situation.

He managed to get into the Gladekeeper's domain, but Nature here was almost as fierce as it was bountiful. If the Wildclaw was any indication of the dragon population living here, he shouldn't expect a warmer welcome. The shade cast by the large tree - the Behemoth - looming over the island was suddenly much more intimidating than it felt, seen from afar. The Fae started to seriously consider to fly for his life.

But the Wildclaw would be expecting that. And Thelos wasn't sure if he could make it back to the edge of the island without scouting the area more thoroughly...

"Found you!~"

... And he clearly didn't have the time for that just now. The Wildclaw suddenly sprung into view, its claws shining in the sun as it dived onto the diminutive Fae. Thelos almost couldn't dodge, as surprised as he was by the sudden charge.

Two large claw marks appeared on the trunk of a large tree as a Wildclaw swiped toward a smaller dragon, who at the last second decided to drop from his perch. The hunter looked at his prey, below him, as he dropped to attack him...

And broke through the ground. Just underneath this tree, a trap had been set, and if the smaller dragon didn't spring it, the full-on charge from the massive Wildclaw tore through the canvas of branches and leaves, making him fall into the pit under. It's only through sheer reflexes that the dragon managed to break his fall, as he managed to open and flap his wings and came to a dead stop just above the field of pointy metal spikes placed vertically, ready to impale any unfortunate being who couldn't manage the evasive action of the Wildclaw.

A murder of crows croaked from nearby trees, clouding the skies as they went to fly in circles around the scene, casting shadows in the relative darkness of the wood.

Thelos rolled when the Wildclaw sprang from the branch, managing to land out of the pitfall when it opened. Indecisive, the Fae could not decide whether to hightail it or to look for the dragon... Until he heard a moan of pain.

Looking carefully from the edge, Thelos could see that the Wildclaw's wings were damaged from the fall though wood and the sudden action. It didn't seem serious, but it was hindering the dragon, seeing as he seemed to hang on to the edge of the pitfall for his life. It was trying to claw his way back to more solid ground, but every now and then the dirt would give under its sharp claws, and the dragon would slide back, sometimes coming into contact with the sharp spikes at the bottom of the pit. Blood was dripping from numerous cuts and bruises between the dragon's scales, and flowing from the gushes in its wings. If it kept up...

Thelos flew down into the pit, before hovering slightly above the spikes. Gathering as much magical energy from the environment as he could, the Fae then managed to blow the spikes' heads to the opposing end of the pit, away from the wounded Wildclaw.

"It's safe now. You can get down, rest here for a bit and heal your wounds before going out."

The bigger dragon was surprised by the Fae's action, but it acknowledged the act.

"Thank you, I guess. So... no hard feelings?"

The Fae landed a bit further, away from the Wildclaw as it skimmed to the bottom.

"No hard feelings." answered the Fae in his usual tone. "Though I may want to keep going rather than extending my stay around."

The Wildclaw had a humorless laugh, ending in a strange choking sound.

"Eh, I guess I should have expected this. Truth be told, it's most certainly my fault for triggering that trap in the first place. Did you set this up?"

The Fae removed his googles, revealing the purple eyes behind.

"No. It is my first time around there."

The Wildclaw held its breath for a few seconds, before sighing:

"Well, then, it's rather fortunate. But why would a Fae from the Arcanist come to such a remote place? We heard the Isles from which you hail are a wonderful sight. Surely you didn't come here for the greenery?"

The Fae readjusted its googles before answering:

"No. I came here because I wanted to see the World by myself. I hail directly from Dragonhome, though I may not stay there quite as long as I was in the Earthshaker's domain."

"Eh... I hope you will be kind enough to actually stay a b-bit longer... I don't th-think... this trap... was ben... ign..."

The Wildclaw fell face first on the floor just there. Alarmed but wary, Thelos approached cautiously from the laying dragon, but the only sign of movement were coming from the dragon's chest, an accelerated, irregular breath, and its eyes seemed agitated in their sockets. Inquisitive, the Fae came closer to the Wildclaw, and took a thorough look at the cuts and bruises. None of them were looking life-threatening, though the largest were still dripping with vital fluids. However, when Thelos examined the cuts made by the trap's spikes, he saw something unusual. Some kind of dried thick green fluid was surrounding the wounds. Could it be...?

Wanting to be sure, Thelos grabbed carefully one of the spikes' head. Sure enough, there was the same kind of dried green fluid on there too, but it was barely noticeable from a distance, the metal's luster overpowering the fluid's color.

That trap was laid to catch dragons. This could spell trouble.

(TBC)