Isis

She came in the night like a sickly flame, a goddess in her own right, if not bearing the
power, then certainly bearing the appearance. A roll of thunder from the earth announced
her coming- Isis, the mistress of ailment, one of the original Plague Mages, Skydancers in
the express service of the Plaguebringer.

When she came to our doorstep on that dark fell night, I had no idea what her true
purpose was. From the ornate gold jewelry she wore, I could tell she was a dragon of
great import, but nothing more. Back then, our intelligence on Plague Mages was little,
and most of it based in nothing but rumor.

Some dragons from nearby clans dared venture out of their caves and stared up at her. A
pack of Mirrors took it upon themselves to throw themselves against the mage, their
ear-growths pinned flat against their heads and their teeth bared and shining. They didn't
make it within five lengths of the Skydancer. She waved a contemptuous hand in their
direction, and the ground before them erupted in acid and sickness. The pack scurried
back, burned hands held over scalded faces, and the watching dragons retreated back into
their caves hurriedly.

All except the delegates from our clan, that is. We had powerful mages of our own, and I
was fairly confident they could hold their own. My worries were for naught, though, as
the Skydancer stopped a respectable distance away from our cave's entrance and declared
herself in a loud voice- "I am she known as Isis, daughter of Ennion, who hails from
Plague! I am one in the line of the Plague Mages! Know our name and be still!"

A few of our number stepped forward as if to challenge her, but I waved them aside. If an
element from the Plague lands wanted to parley, who was I to deny her the chance? First,
though, I asked her to elaborate a bit more on what a Plague Mage was. She did so with
pleasure.

For each realm of the land there are as many legends as dragons, and the Plague Mages'
tale is endemic to the eponymous realm. Their story tells of a group of Skydancers who
went to visit the Plaguebringer, bringing tribute. For their efforts, and as their reward, the
Plaguebringer blessed the visiting clan with immense power. Wherever they walked,
sickness followed. Whenever they spoke, disease spread. So great and feared were these
Skydancers, they eventually took on the name the Plague Mages and resided in the
boil-ridden plains.

Though the magic ran strong in their blood, blood fades with time and breeding. Thus did
the Plague Mage lineage begin to stretch and disappear into the dusts from which they
came. In some individuals, though, the old blood resurfaces again, and that Skydancer
may rise up to the occasion and take on the title of their predecessors.

It was this tale that Isis relayed to me, and that I listened to with rapt ears. When she was
done speaking, she then asked me if I might hear her request. I agreed. From there she
spun a tale of treachery and deceit- hatchlings en route from Plague to Earth, and vice
versa, were disappearing with an increasingly alarming frequency. She was operating under direct orders from her deity to find a hospitable clan, take up residence within it,
and monitor the flow of hatchlings in the area. If there was corruption going on, she said,
she would find it and put a stop to it immediately.

With hatchlings on the line, how could I refuse? How could anyone? From that day on,
Isis became a valued member of our clan- and mighty she was indeed. We often spent our
days patrolling the badlands, eyes open for stray hatchlings and suspicious figures. We
never found anything of great notice, not for a long while.

One day, when Isis and I were on our way home and the sun was hanging low over the
horizon, we saw a black line beginning to snake its way across the half-circle of the sun.
It was hatchlings- hundredss of them- being followed by a dozen some Mirrors. It was as
unique sight in the amount of hatchlings being transported, as well as how complacently
they were moving- when taken to the lands of others, our hatchlings had always been
rambunctious and playful.

I motioned to Isis, who was already taking to the skies. Hiding in the shadow of the
mountains, we tracked the line to the border of Plague and Earth. There we saw them- the
Mirrors- handing their cargo of hatchlings off to an even larger company of Guardians.
We chanced a glance at the young dragons- their eyes were all glazed over. "This is the
work of an enchanter," Isis snarled. I heard her wings beat once, and then she was
airborne, casting her Plague magic in a vile net in every direction.

The Mirrors and Guardians charged. I leapt out from my hiding spot, brandishing wings
and tail and claws in a vicious attempt to keep our ally clear. The dragons rushing us
faltered, then resumed their charge. At that moment, Isis managed to cast the
counter-charm to whatever spell had the hatchlings in place. They erupted into a swarm
of wings, flying in every which direction as their inner sense of direction led them back
to their homes.

Distracted by the sudden movement of so many dragons, the Mirrors and Guardians were
thrown back by a combination of my sweeping attacks and Isis' precision casting. Not ten
minutes passed before we stood victorious from our vantage point atop the mountainside,
and they lay groaning below. Isis then bound them with a spell, slapped a binding rune on
each, and sent up an emblem flare into the sky, calling representatives of the
Plaguebringer to come and fetch the miscreants.

"Well, that's my job," the Skydancer mused. She ruffled her feathers importantly and
glanced at me. "I suppose this is goodbye?"
I inclined my head and asked if she was leaving so soon after she had joined us. She
shifted from leg to leg before shaking her feathered head in a regal motion. "I would like
to stay with you a bit longer, if you would have me."

I most certainly would, I said, and it would be an honor. As we took off from the former battleground, winging our way back to home, I faintly
heard her whisper on the wind- "The honor is all mine."

Written by Xairathan