Orisime

She flew up on dark wings, feeling the tremor in the air from countless cries of battle, and the ripple of sheer power radiating from her, and her rider. There was another tear of terrifying power heralding from across the field, from the great golden king and his frail waif of a girl. Up until then, the forces of Balen had not been able to stand against the gold and his creatures; at a point Dijeir had turned to her and proposed they fly to battle. Flew they did, her thorny briars bursting forth from his boggy earth, swamping and entangling countless--both their own and those of their enemy. She watched as shades wove their dark magic, grounding the golden drake with the utmost of certainty. Orisime remembered passing low over the field to inspect his broken body, at how the mud splattered against what was once glimmering scale; she remembered how she saw his rider sprawled a ways away, a shaft branching from her back, and how the beautiful feeling of victory sounded in her ears, coming forth in a shrill scream. Once it may have sounded almost bell like, but here in this cacophony of screams it sounded much like the howl of dirge bells paired with the sound of blades grinding against the whetstone. A victory pass, then returning to her home--to what they call The Dark City. No sight was ever more welcome.

In the passing days, bodies were either removed for burial or were consumed by the earth on which they had fallen. The ground had dried marginally, and the thick briars tangled amongst themselves, casting a thorny carpet throughout the entirety of the field. A constant reminder of the blood that was spilled.

…

A slight figure walked silently through the arching vaults of the dark city, casting a long shadow against the ancient stone of the walls, wavering with the fickle stillness of the lit sconces that lined the periodic pillars. She wore her dark hair back in a plait, held in place by several sharpened pins. The hems of Orisime's dress ghosted against the stone steps of the steps that spiraled her downward into the bowels of the castle. Here, the sconces did not hold the shadows at bay, but the malicious darkness has long since ceased to impress her. Orisime confidently made her way through a winding labyrinth of halls, ending in a sturdy oaken door, reinforced by hardened steel. Two guards stood at attention, watching as their king's dragon approached them, wordlessly giving them the command with vivid green eyes. She procured a large skeleton key, the guards stepping out of the way as Orisime swung the door open. Inside was dark, with a small pulsing source of light, hardly visible in human eyes. Orisime's body tingled with the proximity, and she closed the door behind her. The guards were well aware that they were not to disturb her under any circumstances.

The catacomb here was enormous, even with her impressive sight she could not see the edges. In the middle a small mountain of faintly burning embers were mounded, shielding it's inner sanctum from the cold of the rest of this dungeon. In here though, the room was kept very toasty. Whether that was from the embers or something else was beyond saying. Stepping aside from the door, Orisime quickly changed out of her gown, letting the silky fabric slide to the floor. Usually such stripping would elicit goosebumps along her human flesh, but here it was more inclined to sweat. Her bare feet took her over to the coals, and as they did so the sound of bare feet slapping over the stone receding into the clicking of talons. Great green eyes gleamed against the orange of the coals, and the large black dragoness coiled about her nest, and the pulsing egg within.

Orisime felt the small life with every ounce of her body, hearing it's small heart beat, and feeling every small movement in the shell through her inky scales. She let out a breath, feeling a tension she didn't know she had go. Distantly she felt her rider's irritation, most likely realizing her missing. But right now that didn't matter. Orisime settled in, and slowed her breathing, feeling her offspring's conscience turn toward her own, recognizing her as mother. That recognition sent a shiver of sheer joy coursing through her.

"Dear one," she told him, for she felt that her child was indeed to be male. Her voice was slow, a mere rumble to the guards standing outside, a voice that took hours-- if not days-- to fully speak, "A great victory was had, and a story to be told," she felt him listening, "Once, in ages long past, we dragons were rulers over all; we could topple the mountains the dwarves built castles in, our magic was greater than that of the fair folk, and our lives were longer than even the elves could boast. But, in that time long past, our kind made one grave error: we trusted. We saw in these other races what was only in ourselves, and it was then that dragon kind made the grave error in letting these races have their way.

"It took some time, but finally a few of us came to our senses, and realized that remaining aloof to these creatures stifled any change we had in bettering ourselves. Who does not like progress? But as with any rising, opposition was sure to surge forward, this time in the face of a golden drake; the very one that was slain today on that bloody field. His words were mighty, and his scales glittered like the sun itself. He was the very picture of beauty, and his beauty hid his dark intentions. They called us twisted, my child, twisted and dark…but was it not they who were twisted? Was it not they that refused to see their potential--the potential of this grand land? This grand land that could be ours Yes, my dear, I hear you. Feel the earth that will soon be yours to conquer, feel how this land, too…hates what the gold had long prevented us from achieving.

"I am creating a new world for you, a world where you can fly where you please and do what you will, and no one will deny your power as they had denied mine. You will rule over those meant to be ruled, and my child…you will achieve greatness such that I can never hope to match." Orisime felt a chill rack through her bones, "I can feel it, my blood, I can feel what you can achieve. Fly over the tallest mountains, to the farthest reaches of this earth. There will not be a soul living that does not know your name…" the last words rolled out in a low hiss. She was still coiled about her nest, but judging by the stiffness in her wings she had been laying here for several settings of the sun.

Orisime's eyes slitted open, taking in the soft glow of the embers. Coming slowly back to full awakening, she couldn't help but note the dark rumblings of anger flickering in the back recesses of her mind, and coming ever closer. Clearly, it seems Dijeir wanted something of her. Well, he should know by now that Orisime spent quite some time with her egg, and even then he still managed to get angry. She sighed, eyes half closing in the darkness, and waiting for the second key to turn the lock or…better yet, for the king of Balen to simply merge from the shadows.