Bonesaws

Nights in the Scarred Wasteland were always the same- Dark. Cold. Eerily silent. The stars were always hidden from sight, veiled by the virulent smog cast skyward by the Wyrmwound. If one were to cast their gaze inwards, towards the Boneyard, they may catch a glimpse of the dim light cast by the exiled one, the Blightguide, as she shows foreign pilgrims the way.

But one night was different. There came a night where Blightguide was not the only one traversing the Scarred Wastelands.There was a strange creature who at a distance seemed to have the head of a bird, flames flickering about its body as it corkscrewed through the air. It was a pattern akin to those of the Spiral breed, but much looser, much different. Those of the Blight-Eater clan were curious, yes, but none were allowed to take wing to greet the stranger, unable to leave the pocked earth under the orders of their Ailmother, Doomsayer.

The creature soon landed, wings folding. It was, in fact, a Spiral dragon, and his birdlike appearance was thanks to his mask. Not a headdress as the females wore, but a mask. Glass lenses glittered in his dancing flames, set in the strange beakish leather that encompassed his entire head.

"Who are you?" Doomsayer stepped forth, wings fanning in an attempt to startle the newcomer, though he showed no signs of shying away. Rather, his head lowered in a bow, voice holding a tone indicating a smile when he replied.

"Most refer to me as Bonesaws. I'm what you could call a doctor. A plague doctor, in this case."

"Why have you come? The Blight-Eater clan has no need for your services."

"Don't you, though? Yu who are born to the Plaguebringer may not need to worry about the dangers the Contagion and all within pose, but what of the dragons who come to your clan from the others? What about those who hail from the Windsinger? The Icwarden? Or even... The Gladekeeper? What of them?"

Doomsayer said nothing for a long while, though her four eyes narrowed under own mask. Finally, she turned away, small birdskulls clattering with the movement.

"Keep them healthy if you want to earn your keep. The others will verse you in our laws." That said, she quietly loped away. Bonesaws' head rose as she left, twisting towards his arm, which he lifted so he could eye the many-legged creature twined around it.

"You heard the lady, Patella. Fetch my tools." The Bonepriest uncoiled itself from him, skittering down the limb and over the doctor's claws as it hurried off with much-practiced ease. "We have work to do."


Gijinka image by Sheo