Cryptae

Cryptae - Overseer for the Arcane Moon Clan

The Parfait Shop

She found herself torn asunder. Ripped from the life she knew. Nothing left to bind her. No reason to live, upon death when she found her. Breathed life. Gave her purpose. Now she serves as a guardian once more. Protecting those new that she has come to care for.



by oOTundraOo

A dark, imposing figure that patrols the borders of her clan’s lair, Cryptae is harsh spoken, with a tongue as sharp as a ridgeback’s spines. One of the main guard of her clan, she takes her job very seriously.

Having aged quite a bit Cryptae knows her time left with her clan is short and has been making many preperations for her departure. Training Esme to be the next captain of the guard for the clan, distributing what little of a hoard she has to her clanmates, and all other things that would need to be sorted out before her flame finally was to go out.

Though all know it will happen soon, it would seem no one would be prepared for the events that would happen in her passing...

“Be alert and be sharp. Who knows what could walk out of the shadows in the forest. Don’t waste time daydreaming, something might slip by you.”

Short story

“M-Melanie! Crap, she’s vanished again.”

Phoebe perked up as she heard someone say something about her sister, “What’s that? Where’s she gone?” Her fins fluttered up and down with worry. The dragon who had spoke was a large guardian. Cryptae.

“I just said she’d vanished! As in I have no clue!” She snapped at the fae, “We’re about to go on a patrol around the borders and she… Oh, the nerve!” She snarls, though worry echos in the back of her words. “Agni!”

The imp looked over, “Ah? What is it? Melanie gone?”

“Again!” Cryptae snorted, “Let’s go find her…” She stormed out of the entrance of the lair, a sighing imp following her.

Meanwhile, the fae had slipped out and was perched atop a stone that jutted out over a river. Fresh clear water flowed under the stone, and rich greenery decorated the land around her. She huffed. So much for an adventure after skipping on patrol again. She was bored. She’d had no where in mind when she escaped, so now she sat with her tiny arms crossed.

Well this is boring.

But a rustling noise distracts her. She jerks her head up and listens, hard. Something is moving through the forest. Something bigger than her. Her frills rise aggressively and she stands, arching her back.

The scent of sickness reaches her nostrils and her eyes widen in a mixture of rage and fear. Plague. A plague dragon was on their lands.

A rustle off to her left.

More! Multiple Plague dragons?? An invasion…!? Now?? She was sure that their people had come to a stalemate with the Plague recently! She turned to bolt back to the clan, but ran face first into feathers that stank of ashes and sickness and… She scrambled away and hissed loudly.

The coatl she’d run into laughed. He was fire in color, stripes running this way and that across his scales. His white underbelly flashed occasionally with bright blue lightning. One of his eyes was covered with a black patch. His one orange eye peered down at her and his mouth was slightly open as he grinned. This dragon… wasn’t sane! His flight was fire, but the stench now lodged firmly in her nostrils confirmed where this dragon lived. The Boneyard.

“Well, Well, What a little cutie, ah? Lost from your clan or out on a walk?” The coatl flashed long fangs and spread his red, current-gened wings. He looked like a tiger, and the overall look unnerved her tremendously. She wasn’t intimidated. At all. She stood solid as the snake-like dragon prowled closer. Her lips curled in a growl and she about lashed out when she heard someone step into the water behind her. Her head snapped around.

Alright, now she might be a little worried. At this point, she was just glad her sister hadn’t seen her to tag along again.

The ridgeback behind her was huge, her grey, scarred skin rippling with muscle. Red eyes shone and she snickered as infection spread through the water her claws were dipped in. Plants along the shores started to turn black and rot, curling in on themselves.

“Stop that!!” She yelled, her fins flaring and quivering in barely contained rage. She could get away, she’d already spotted two or three escape routes. But she couldn’t just let this happen. She was a guard! She was trained for this!

“Gonna stop us?” The coatl behind her snickered, fire flicking from his nostrils as he laughed, “I’d like to see you try.”

That was it.

She whipped around on the coatl and lunged for his neck. He huffed and slid to the side. He was about to taunt at her again when something collided with the ridgeback. It was huge and white… and bloody?

“Dagny!!” The coatl roared. The ridgeback flung off the imperial and finally Melanie got a good look at him.

Agni! It suddenly registered who was locked claw-to-claw with the ridgeback. As if to punctuate her mental realization, she heard a roar in the distance. Cryptae? It sounded like she was fighting with something else!

The coatl snarled and rammed his head against the fae, knocking her off the rock and into the dense foliage below. Then fire followed. She barely managed to scramble away before she was burnt to a crisp. She held her breath as the fire stopped and the coatl jumped down to examine the smouldering remains he’d created. Come on… just a little closer… Her tail trembled as she fought to keep it from lashing back and forth. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears... Soon he was close enough she could smell his sickness over the ashes he stood in.

She burst from the foliage like a bat out of hell and latched onto his neck. Green energies swelled slowly in her chest, but then her whole little body felt like it was on fire. The lightning she’d seen on his underbelly… it wasn’t just a fancy visual enchantment! Her body was paralyzed, locked into place as he swung his neck, flinging her off. He cackled, a deathly high, shrieking noise. Fire once again swelled in his chest and she could see flames at the back of his throat as he opened his mouth.

She couldn’t move…

A roar entered her ears, then something collided with the coatl. Claws wrapped in water energies.

His shrieking cackle cut of with a sickening thud and the coatl was thrown into the river. He didn’t move. She faintly heard a wail and a splash. But Cryptae had wrapped herself around the tiny fae, gently nudging her and asking if she was alright. She just smiled up at the motherly attention her guardian was doting on her with, and nodded to each question. Her voice was hoarse from being electrocuted like she was, but she felt safe now. Her vision started to go dark, though, and the last thing she registered in that moment was Cryptae’s voice rising with worried panic.

It would be an hour or so before she woke again, under the gentle claws of their clan healer. Cryptae was next to her.

“What happened?” She managed to croak out.

The guardian’s head shot up and she grinned at the fae, “Hey! You’re awake!” She nudged the little fae’s head, “We came after you when you went missing. We were ambushed by a white ridgeback, but halfway through chasing her away, we heard you yell. Agni took off and I tried to follow, but that ridgeback stopped me. I’m just glad I got to you before anything happened. The two ridgebacks fled after grabbing that coatl who was on you. I wish I’d gone back and actually killed him. He must have been their leader… After this, he won’t stay down. We’ve hurt his pride…”

“He’s going to come back with more…?”

“Probably…” Cryptae sighed, “... Stop running off. At least until we know what’s going to happen with those dragons?”

Melanie chuckled, “No promises.” She grinned wide through her exhaustion and curled up with her Guardian, who just sighed and laid her head down next to her Charge.