Madness

Madness' Search had taken him to the border between the Scarred Wasteland and the Tangled Wood, where the sparse plant life took on especially strange shapes, each domain vying for control. He'd been wandering tirelessly for weeks, never doubting that he'd find his charge eventually.

As he reached the top of a slight rise, his eyes were drawn to a particular bush at the far end of the hillock. He approached it carefully, soaking in its appearance in the fading light as he circled around it, and knew he had found his charge. It was really little more than a strange, mutated shrub, not even reaching his belly at full height, but to him it was the most entrancing thing in the world.

He immediately began ruthlessly ripping up any other nearby plants and tossing them away, determined they wouldn't steal any of the nutrients his charge needed. After he was satisfied with his work, he curled his massive frame around it protectively to settle in for the night.

The next morning he carefully checked over his charge to be sure nothing had happened to it in the night, then with great reluctance left it to search out water and any source of food for himself. It didn't take him long to find a river a short distance away, and he was pleased to discover bluish rushes growing along its bank and fish swimming in its depths. After filling his stomach, he pondered how to get water over to his charge, remembering plants were supposed to need water to thrive. Eventually, for lack of a better option, he decided he'd carry some over in his mouth: the bush wasn't that big compared to him, so he reasoned one or two mouthfuls every couple of days should be enough for it, and scooped up the first one before heading back.

And so he settled into a routine, waking every morning and checking over his charge to make sure it looked healthy before setting off to feed by the river and returning with a mouth full of water, then spending the rest of the day jealously curled around the shrub to protect it from harm.

Months passed in such a way, while the nearby talonok clan grew more displeased with his regular poaching of one of their most plentiful gathering spots. As the season shifted to autumn and food threatened to become more scarce, they decided to take action. Trying to outright kill such a massive dragon would be foolish, but they were familiar with how much importance guardians placed in their charges, and they'd been watching Madness and knew his routine.

So one morning after he had left for the river a contingent of raptorik warriors descended on the shrub and swiftly uprooted it before starting to tear it to pieces. Madness was just returning with his usual mouthful of water when he caught sight of the avians at the top of the hill. The water streamed from his mouth, forgotten, as a desperate bellow escaped his throat and he charged headlong towards the threat.

The raptorik were prepared for him though, and seemingly hundreds of tiny wings were suddenly surrounding him, beating at him while a thousand sharp points cut into his hide. Overwhelmed and confused by the sudden attack, Madness tried to shield himself with his wings while still making his way to his charge, but the warriors were relentless. In between the frenzied wing beats, Madness caught a glimpse of a torch being set to the pieces of his charge lying on the ground. He screamed, a guttural, anguished cry, and shoved through his attackers, heedless of protecting his own body.

The flock rose into the air and retreated, but they had finished what they set out to do. Madness stared in helpless horror as he watched the remains of his charge burn, torn on whether or not he should stomp out the flames and risk damaging his charge even further. After a second's hesitation, he brought his great paws down on the fire, depriving it of oxygen, and repeated the movement until it was extinguished. Then he looked down bleakly at the crushed, charred remains of what had been his charge. Gingerly he used a claw to shift around bits of dead plant, hoping to find some part undamaged, but there was nothing.

Slowly he began to curl himself around the remains, his own injuries forgotten as he silently mourned his failure to protect the most precious thing in the world.

Time passed.

Two guardians and a spiral approached Madness' resting spot on their way home from a series of skirmishes. The guardians had both wanted to take the longer route and travel by land since neither had yet found their charge. Once the group noticed the unmoving hump that was Madness, their guard went up. The male guardian, a large brown, circled around him at a distance with a mixture of caution and growing wonder. After a good look at the black dragon's deteriorating condition it was obvious to both him and the female guardian that followed him what must have transpired.

She looked at the reduced hulk that had once been a proud guardian with disgust and suggested they leave at once. Her companion, on the other hand, was still staring transfixed at the dragon in front of them, who had yet to even acknowledge their existence.

The female guardian glanced towards her companion when she didn't get a response, and her expression turned to puzzlement when she saw his face. She was both taken aback and horrified when he suddenly announced that this withered, sorry excuse for a protector was his charge.

Slowly he stepped closer to Madness and introduced himself as Canth, uncertain if the other dragon even heard him. Undeterred when he got no response, he positioned himself beside the scrawny behemoth and gently started pushing him to his feet.

It took over an hour and the reluctant help of Morganth, the female guardian, before Canth managed to get Madness standing up and leaning against him, all the while the spiral looping about in the air above them offering suggestions.

It was a slow journey back to the group's home lair, and when they did arrive Canth carefully settled Madness in one of the largest sleeping areas and asked Seaglass, the spiral that had been with them, to tend to any physical injuries the black dragon may have. He then disappeared briefly before returning with food suitable for a digestive system that wasn't used to working anymore and quietly tried to coax Madness into eating.

Canth spent every available moment after that tending to Madness, showing unfaltering patience and endless care as his charge gradually began responding to his efforts. It took a long time, but eventually Madness would move around the lair on his own and acknowledge when he was spoken to. He was always quiet, and there was a sort of slowness to the way he did anything, as if it were an immense effort, but he had found a tenuous will to live and clung to it desperately for Canth's sake.

Canth, for his part, did everything he could to give Madness a reason to live. As leader of the clan, Canth couldn't spend all his time with his charge, but he made sure Madness always had a tamed creature to look after to give him something to do around the lair, and when he was well enough Canth began teaching him how to fight. He had carefully selected another dragon to serve as Madness' partner in battle, to ensure his charge didn't do anything reckless. Jora took some convincing before she accepted the job, but she was laid back enough that Madness' withdrawn personality didn't bother her.

Some time later when Whisper joined the clan, the two Plague-born dragons formed a casual acquaintance. The pearlcatcher was more relaxed around the giant guardian than he was with the majority of the other dragons, mostly because any attempt to be charming and agreeable around him would be wasted, but also because Madness was the only one who could understand his nostalgia towards the Scarred Wasteland. Often he would seek the guardian out and make himself comfortable nearby, either reminiscing about their homeland or simply enjoying the companionable silence.

Though he would always be a shadow of his former self, Madness discovered he had the strength to rise every day and live among the world, surrounded by dragons who accepted him exactly as he was.