Cyanna

Seer

Cyanna came to the clan at a young age, having been called to the clan by a force she didn't know. She had heard tales of dragons in her family having a gift, a sight gift of sorts. A gift where they knew things before they happened, heard voices that weren't there, had feelings of unease before bad things happened. A gift that usually would get them cast out from the clan, abandoned in the wilderness, left to their own devices, their abilities frowned upon.

But something told Cyanna that Karli was not like that. Not only was she good friends with the clan Cyanna was born into, a nature clan of all things, she was a water dragon and water dragons did not frown at oracles. She already had one seer herself, a male dragon who had not heard or felt anything from the TideLord in ages. The silence of their deity was scaring them more than they were willing to admit.

Karli welcomed Cyanna immediately, pairing her up with Rusty. If anyone could teach her how to use her abilities, it would be the dragon who had been one of the few to receive a message from the trench when no messages were getting through. Rusty worked slowly, building up her ability from just the feeling it had started as to a sense of awareness she had never known she was capable of. And after a long days work, his mate would have food waiting for them by the fire, a smile of welcome on her face. Cyanna had never felt so appreciated before.

Even better was when she met Elena. A strange name for a boy but his parents were eccentric like that. All of his siblings had left the clan to date, either to serve the deities or other clans, but not Elena. He took one look at Cyanna and knew he was meant to stay with her. When she asked him why he was so certain he told her that he just knew it in his gut that his place was by her side, protecting her. He didn't know from what, just that he had to. Rusty told her that some dragons had a little bit of the sight, nothing compared to what they could do but enough to give them an extra sense about things. He recommended that she trust these sense and if Elena's were telling him to stay by her side, the TideLord must be sending him a message only he can feel and hear. She accepted his wise council, knowing that pushing the one dragon away who might come to love her one day was not a smart thing to do, especially if he was meant to be her protector. Little did they know that the protection would go both ways.

Magnum watched his father watching Cyanna. Having a Seer on your side would put him a step closer to the clan leader. No one knew this better than Magnum, having watched his father and former mate scheme and plan. They may have been quiet as of late, but not still. He noticed that Contralto had taken to bringing food especially for Cyanna, leaving it at her fire for her before she got back from her training with Rusty. Cerimi had noticed as well but didn't know what to make of it.

Then Cyanna got sick. Her convulsions were so violent Eireen didn't know if she could stop them. She had never seen anything so terrible in all her years in medicine and wasn't sure what would stop them. Elena stood by his mate, unsure how he could protect her from this, an illness he couldn't fight, an enemy he couldn't see. Magnum watched his father, noting the look of satisfaction on his face. A thought occurred to him. If Cyanna died, they would be down a Seer and it would look like Karli was cursed by the TideLord. Having lost an ambassador in a clan raid some months back, she had been struggling to keep the spirits of the other clan members up. Cyanna had been a welcome gift. To lose her would be a terrible blow.

Magnum voiced his concerns to Cerimi and Elena, keeping everyone else out of it. If he was wrong about his father's involvement, he didn't want Karli or his mate to know. What they didn't know couldn't hurt them and then it would only be his reputation that was damaged. Since he was the mate to the second sister, the sister who wouldn't inherit, he didn't have much to worry about. Cerimi agreed to follow Contralto on their next hunting trip, to see what he was up to. Elena offered to keep an eye on Impa in case she was involved. "If my father is involved, she most definitely is," Magnum warned.

The following evening they gathered at the back of the lair, away from prying eyes. Cerimi was seething, smoke curling out of her nostrils. "It's poisoned," she hissed. Magnum took a step back, surprised.

"You are sure? You saw him do it?"

She nodded. "There is a dead animal in the forest on the edge of our clan. I don't know how it died, but he's been dipping her food in it's blood. The food he's been bringing especially for her. The food only she has been eating. We cut off that food, she may get better."

"And if it's too late?" Elena asked, quivering in fear.

Cerimi shook her head. "It can't be. Eireen will know what to do once she knows what she's fighting. She needs to see the animal." Cerimi moved swiftly across the lair, catching Eireen as she was heading out to gather plants. The two talked quietly for a moment, Eireen looking in Magnum and Elena's direction once before nodding and following Cerimi out of the clan.

"Karli has no choice but to expel him now," Elena whispered.

Magnum shook his head. "She can't. He has too many supporters. Even if we could prove this was his doing, some would never abandon him."

"Even if he's a poisoner?"

"If she lives, Karli will have to let him stay."

Elena's eyes hardened. "Then I will be testing all her food for her from now on. Karli should get a tester as well."

Magnum looked at him sadly. "She does. Her mate, Shark, eats everything first. He won't let her take a bite before he does."

Elena's eyes widened in shock. "Her mate? But if he were to die..."

"He doesn't care. She is his whole world and he would do anything for her. He would give his life to protect her. He risks it every day to keep her by his side. And she knows it. He also knows that if she were to die, Arwen would have a harder time than she does keeping Contralto and his lackeys under control."

They turned as Cerimi and Eireen returned to the clan, anger radiating off of Eireen. She went immediately to her medicine stores and started barking orders at her three assistants. Filly, not used to her being so gruff, shrank back against the wall in fright. Her gaze softening, Eireen nudged Filly towards Cyanna, asking her to hold her head up so she could drink the meds she needed.

The meds worked fast, Cyanna's eyes opened, she stretched her wings, her fever disappeared. As she sat up and looked around, she searched for the one face she needed to see. Elena was there, smiling down at her. "You scared us," he whispered.

"I had a dream. A voice was telling me to stay the course, that I was where I needed to be. I've never felt such peace before."

Rusty threw up the call, claiming it was a sign from the TideLord. The first sign in ages that anyone had received. Cyanna shook her head, saying it didn't feel like that. It felt like something else, something calmer, more soothing. Maybe another deity, assuring a water clan that all was not lost? Rusty agreed that this could happen, since oracles were predominantly water clan and other deities needed a way to communicate with their people. He suggested that because she had come from a nature clan previously, it could be that. Karli was just thankful she was OK. Elena refused to let her eat her food before he tried it and Magnum and King kept a closer eye on Contralto. No one said it out loud, but everyone knew that he had attempted murder for the first, and most likely not the last time.