Void

Void flapped her wings as she darted among the tents at the Trading Post, her deep blue eyes scanning the contents within. Her depleted sacridite stash was running low, and she never knew when she would need some for a ritual...
Her flight was cut short as she reached a tall post. Void pitched her head and wings up and flapped harder to stop her forward momentum. She came to a hover, her dark, thorny face inches from the rough bark of the felled tree that made up the post. The mystic patterned ribbons and cloak fluttered around her body before returning to their original draped positions.
Void let out a sharp breath. "As much as I can multitask..." She murmured, her voice trailing off as she noticed a small piece of parchment tacked to the post a short distance above her head. She stretched her neck upward to read it. The writing was hurried and swiftly looped, which took multiple readings by Void to understand the message:

"Desperately seeking mage or other knowledgeable magic user
Remove a Shade curse cast by Longneck

Hydea's clan, a cave carved into the side of a hill, Hewn City, Sunbeam Ruins"

Void's eyebrows rose. Another Shade curse from a Beastclan? She wondered. So she wasn't the only one...
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A massive cave opening loomed above Void's head as she landed on dry dirt. She was panting from the long flight, her wings drooping from the strain. While gathering her breath, she glanced at her surroundings with greater focus. The Hewn City was indeed perpetually shrouded in an eternal night, but bright light emanated from the opening. It was almost inviting, Void thought. Almost.
Void flitted into the cave and stopped on the smooth stone floor. For being such a massive lair, there were very few dragons living in it, it seemed. A red Guardian, clad in silver armor, conversed with a grey Imperial, whose light green wings shimmered in the artificial cave lights.
The ground began to shake slightly, and Void raised her head in alarm. A Ridgeback female, her red spines augmented by bloodscale armor, peered down at the Nocturne. Her tiny yellow eyes narrowed.
"State your business here," boomed the Ridgeback.
"Is this Hydea's clan?" Void asked, her deep blue gaze meeting the Ridgeback's.
"It is," the Ridgeback responded, as loudly as before. "I am Hydea."
Void nodded respectfully, and the sides of the haunted flame headpiece swung forward and backward with the motion. "There was a flyer at the Trading Post seeking the help of a knowledgable magic user."
Hydea considered Void's request for a moment before facing to the right, the bright yellow crown atop her head never wavering from its spot. "Jimmy, a mage is here to see you." She returned her attention to the dark Nocturne and craned her neck to get closer to Void. "I hope your dealing goes smoothly," she said curtly before pulling away and stomping toward the chatting Guardian and Imperial. Void could sense a subtle threat in Hydea's statement and chose to disregard it for the time being.
Two Nocturnes glided across the cave to meet Void. One, a male, was dark green, and his apparel showed him to be perhaps a frequent traveler, with a scarf and sturdy coat to protect against long flights. His pale Wind eyes were partially obscured by red-tinted sunglasses. The other, a female, was brighter in hue, and the light blue silk apparel that adorned her matched her wing color perfectly.
The female spoke first.
"Thank you so much for coming!" She exclaimed, her Light eyes wide with worry and excitement.
"It is no trouble at all," Void said.
The male Nocturne responded immediately. "So you are knowledgable in Shade curses?" He asked.
"Indeed I am." Void's voice remained even despite the urgency she could sense from these dragons. "As a matter of fact, I have been cursed to be the avatar of the Shade when it chooses to return to Sornieth."
The male Nocturne snorted loudly before chuckling, causing the female to glare at him. "You've got to be kidding me! You can't be serious! The Shade hasn't existed for ages! No way is it going to come back and cause trouble any time soon!"
Void couldn't help but smirk. Almost every single dragon she tells has a similar reaction, so she was used to it at this point. Still smiling, she answered, "I am willing to give a demonstration if it will make you trust me."
"Really?" the female Nocturne asked. Her face was serious, and her voice was tinged with fear.
"Of course. Is there a safe place nearby? I wouldn't want to cause any inadvertent harm."
The male Nocturne peered side to side before answering Void. "There's a quiet place a short distance away, near where we send dragons to be exalted. Hydea isn't training anyone right now, so it should be totally private."
Void curtly nodded. "Alright. Let's go, so we can get your matter straightened out."
The dark green Nocturne acted likewise before leaping into the air and flapping his wings to hold his position. Once the two female Nocturnes joined him, they headed out.
Void stayed back as she followed the green Nocturne. The female came parallel to her as they traversed the shadows of the Hewn City.
"What is your name?" The light grey dragon asked, glancing briefly at Void before resuming gazing in the direction of travel.
"All call me Void now," the dark Nocturne replied. "I used to have a different name. That was before I was attacked. I don't remember that name anymore."
"Oh..." the female Nocturne answered. She seemed to be searching for an adequate response. "I'm sorry..."
"It does not matter now. What has happened has happened."
After a moment of silence, the pale Nocturne spoke again.
"I am Maria." She motioned with her head toward the dragon leading the way. "That's Jimmy." Maria's voice became slightly quieter. "I would think that after his experience with Nosferatu he would be more open to your story. Please excuse him..."
Void was going to reply until she noticed that Jimmy had come to a stop in midair, so she slowed to meet him. Maria followed suit.
A large flat stone sat upon the grass and dirt, surrounded by remains of stone buildings from ages past. Clearly, this was the city part of the Hewn City.
Void flapped past Jimmy and Maria and centered herself above the stone, remaining in midair. "Before I demonstrate, I must give a warning. I tap into this... curse fairly often, but I do not always maintain complete control. If I show no signs of escaping my... trance, get as far away from here as possible and find somewhere safe to hide. Your lair may be the safest place to return to. Do you understand?"
Both dragons nodded.
"Alright," Void said. She closed her dark blue eyes and stopped flapping her wings.
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Jimmy stared at the dark Nocturne with curiosity and a healthy level of skepticism. He'd seen enough Shade-proclaiming nutcases at various places in Sornieth to know when a dragon was lying. Thus far, however, this mage seemed to be totally serious about her "curse" and had no hint of insanity about her.
As soon as she closed her eyes and stopped beating her wings, the black dragon began to rest in midair, as if she were held up by an unseen force. Her wings stuck out beside her like a pair of enormous horns, and she stretched her arms out in front of her. While she did these things, Jimmy noticed the regular sounds of nature, like the birds singing and insects chirping, went entirely silent. The green dragon began hearing only a ringing in his ears from the lack of environmental noise.
Once the area was devoid of sound, the dark Nocturne's eyes flew open. The deep blue color of the Water flight was now pitch black, and it was so black Jimmy swore she no longer had eyes to speak of. Fear began building inside him, and his chest began to constrict. The tassels of the black dragon's cloak began to flutter in a nonexistent breeze.
Then her mouth flew open. Past her spiked maw and carnivorous teeth there was the same nothingness as her eyes. Maria let out a quick shriek, and Jimmy instinctively pulled her closer to him and held her as they remained hovering in the air.
The dark Nocturne's body seemed to lose dimension, and soon all parts of her flesh were the same color as her eyes and mouth. Suddenly, Jimmy felt some kind of tailwind push him and Maria closer to the dragon-shaped hole in the air. Maria clutched at his coat and let out a small whimper, her pale yellow eyes turning to him for a plan.
"Fly backward!" Jimmy exclaimed to her, though his outburst came out only as a whisper. Maria got the message, and the two of them flapped their wings in unison, putting some distance between themselves and the anomaly before them. When they had gotten far enough away, the strange wind ceased to affect them.
"Void!" Maria called. As before, Jimmy could see that she was yelling, but her voice was merely a whisper. "Void! VOID!!!"
"Void!" Jimmy joined in calling, but the two of them made almost no noticeable sound.
Maria turned toward Jimmy. "Why isn't this working?" The lowering of her voice seemed to have the opposite effect: Jimmy could hear her loudly and clearly.
"That's it!" Jimmy said excitedly, his voice almost at normal volume. "Whispering is louder than shouting. Void! Void!" Jimmy spoke as softly as he could, and his voice seemed to reverberate off the broken columns and round stone beneath the Nocturne-shaped tear in reality.
They whispered in unison. "Void! Void!"
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Void sat curled in complete emptiness, her arms gripping her legs, her head draped over her appendages, and her wings encapsulating everything. Having done this multiple times before, she could tell that, as was to be expected, she was paralyzed and powerless. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and no sound entered her ears. She could barely feel her own body around her.
Until she heard something. Something faint, like a tiny burst of sound that disappeared almost as quickly as it had begun. But then it happened again. And again. And again. Then Void realized.
Jimmy. And Maria. They were out there, and they and the whole Hewn City could be absorbed into the Shade's mass if this kept up. She remembered that she had to resist.
She tried lifting her wings, but it was as though she was trapped in amber. The pressure to remain motionless was enormous.
But she had to fight it. She could not let the Shade destroy the planet, especially because all she wanted was to demonstrate her curse.
The tiny sounds penetrating Void's ears seemed to urge her on, and after a great effort, she managed to flex her wings off of her body. They were incredibly stiff, as though they hadn't been used in months.
Next she unclasped her claws from her legs, her arm muscles begging to be returned to their previous shape.
Finally, Void prepared to move her head. With each liberation of a body part, the dark Nocturne could hear the voices more clearly. She realized it was her name, repeated over and over again. In one final effort to free herself, Void wrenched her neck up and her dark blue eyes flew open. A pained and infuriated roar escaped her maw.
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"Void! Void!" The two Nocturnes paused to catch their breath. Controlled whispering sapped a surprising amount of energy, Maria noticed. She turned toward Jimmy, whose pale green eyes were narrowed behind his red sunglasses. "I don't think it's working. The suction... it could start drawing in larger objects..."
Jimmy's voice trailed off as the unnatural black tear in space started regaining dimension. The two Nocturnes turned their heads and gazed at the spectacle. In a few short moments, the gusts ceased as Void rematerialized. Her ribbons and cloak fluttered in the natural wind once more before her body plummeted toward the flat stone, landing dead center with a dull thump.
Maria looked at Jimmy with wide eyes before the two of them darted to Void's side. "Void!" she called normally, shaking the dark Nocturne's shoulders.
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Generously gifted by BlazeMoonStorm!
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