Splendor

Splendor

Female // She/Her // ???

Petalmane Floron

Familiar

This elusive feline prowls within flower beds, using its natural camouflage for the perfect strike.

2000

Spellbound Tome

Familiar

Using deft wings to dart here and there, this magical book just won't let anyone read it.

1500

Shalebuck

Familiar

While not very fast, they are extremely difficult to move, displace, or chip. (KS-Sponsored by Tumblebuck.)

2650

Glazed Sentry

Familiar

It is said that the tortured soul of a disgraced potter is trapped inside this grinning vessel.

1500

Agol

Familiar

A backwards thinking creature.

0

Ornamental Eyewing

Familiar

There is an old legend that tells of a bird-like creature who can bestow the gift of sight to dragons blinded in battle. No one has witnessed it happening, unfortunately.

0

Scaleback

Familiar

Scalebacks are always smelly, always hungry, and always in a bad mood. It's always a good idea to avoid them.

2000

Nightsky Fuiran

Familiar

Scavengers with a keen sense of smell, Fuiran are notorious for digging up the carrion that other desert predators have stashed beneath the sands.

2000

Bonecarver Ancient

Familiar

Tasked with carving the bones of mighty beasts with symbols to protect the home and flock.

250

Stormclaw Showman

Familiar

This talonok creates a distracting display, allowing its allies a greater chance at a surprise strike!

2500

Maren Seahunter

Familiar

Maren schools depend on a steady supply of fresh fish; preservation is difficult and taxes their sorcerers.

2890

Vibrant Jeweler

Familiar

A hoarder of fine gemstones in the brightest colors.

0

"The Shadow"

"Step away from the body."

It was dark in the hollowed-out earth, the brief light from the lamp that hung from Splendor's tail only able to claw its way a tiny amount into the oppressive darkness. The meager illumination revealed various herbs and trinkets that lined the walls of the small cave, a temporary set up of various materials in which magic swirled around. In the middle of the sorry excuse for a room, an intricate carpet lay, just beginning to soak with blood.

Splendor did not need to see the figures to know that they were there. Her sense of smell told her all that she needed to know.

A wheezing chuckle escaped from the pitch blackness. A mind at its wits end, a laughter which told Splendor the last straw had already been pulled time and time again. There was a shuffling sound, and two red eyes stared at Splendor, almost hidden by the mask the thing wore and the blood-soaked mane which draped over its face. There was a wet splatter, and Splendor assumed that the thing had opened its mouth, letting something fall from the clutches of its fangs.

"Splendor," it breathed, awestruck at the goddess that stood before it. "It's really you." Splendor curled her lip in disgust. The very tone in which the Shadow spoke was enough to send an unpleasant shiver along her spine. The Shadow abandoned its quiet prey, which lay still beneath its claws and blade, taking a step into the light. If Splendor squinted her eyes and looked very hard, ignoring the crimson which stained that once pristine coat, she could have seen kindness and innocent wonder in those eyes. A dragon she once thought she knew.

"It's been so long, my dearest," the Shadow chuckled in a hollow voice. "I was beginning to think that you had forgotten me. Now I see that I was worried for nothing! Even as I dispose of this mewling disgrace, the likes of which does not even deserve to spend a second in you're divine presence..." The Shadow gave her puppy-dog eyes. "You still take that same tone of voice as if I've done something to be angry about."

Splendor roared in anger, bile raising in her throat. She lunged forward, swiping at the monster with her gnarled claws. It scampered backwards, giggling in an unsettling, eerie pitch. It was Splendor's turn to stand over the body now, a faint breath growing weaker ever second. A drumming heart quieting as the blood it pumped flowed out of its vessel.

"Still the feistiest dragon I know, I see," the Shadow purred. It stuck its tongue out, absentmindedly licking up the blood which dribbled down its mask in rivulets. It kept its eyes trained on Splendor, his piercing stare only abandoning her own to glance at the beautiful sheen of magic which glimmered across her fur. Splendor wanted nothing more than to scratch his eyes out. He was not worthy of seeing her in such an angered and frightened state, not worthy of seeing the toll his actions had taken upon her health and sanity. Her loyalty to the Icewarden, soiled by his very presence.

They stood in silence a bit longer, before the Shadow let out a small gasp. He could hear them too. The thundering footsteps, pounding from a distance away. Getting closer every second. One was almost upon them.

"You show really get going now," Splendor growled, fighting to keep her voice from trembling in panic instead of fury. The Shadow laughed jovially. "Of course, of course. I've overstayed my welcome, haven't I? I shall bid you adieu, before I am eternally robbed of the chance to see you again."

The Shadow turned, creeping forward to the right of Splendor. She stood still, fighting to keep her fur from standing on end. Their eyes never wavered from staring into the other's. As the Shadow stalked so that his body was side-by-side with Splendor's, he suddenly stopped. Splendor gave a warning snarl. The Shadow grinned.

"By the way," he breathed, their pelts almost touching. Blood continued to drip down his face, staining his mask and soiling his once gorgeous mane. "Call me Crippler. It's what I am, after all!" With that, the Shadow leapt forward. Splendor let out an exclamation at the unexpected quickness, paw launching out to get one last swipe at his flank before he fled. Her claws only managed to bounce off the crimson armor he had adorned himself with, even cutting herself on one of the bright red spikes which protruded from the hide. She hissed, looking down at her paw as a droplet of liquid was expelled from the wound. Such a small thing. It would be dry in only a moment. When she looked back up, the Crippler was gone. Long disappeared into the darkness of midnight.

Splendor's head turned to the body which still lay unmoving. Shame washed over her, filling her eyes with tears and stomach with an icy dread. She was too late. She had played along with the Shadow's game, and a life was the price to pay for her cowardice and slow actions. But as she sniffed the air, relief filled her as she realized that the tang of death was not present in the air yet. Though she could not hear or see it, Solsten was still alive.

Splendor had just began to press her paws on the clotting wounds when Lumio appeared in the entrance of the cave, breathing heavily and eyes wild. He cringed upon assessing the damage done to the bright purple Gaoler, even though he hated the clairvoyant priest with a passion. Her upper pair of horns had been completely shattered, and her was ripped clean off her body. Thankfully, that was the worst extent of her injuries. If healed soon, they would be nonfatal.

Lumio approached the two, no doubt to help slow the bleeding, then froze. His body stiffened as the familiar scent registered in his mind. His moves were jerky and uneven then, and Lumio almost fell as he wobbled his way over to Splendor and Solsten.

"Was it really him?" Lumio asked in a husky whisper, voice hushed and full of fear. Out of all her time at the Caravan, Splendor had never seen Lumio display any sort of fear before. But now, in this rare and intimate moment between them, they shared a silent realization. Both bore the burden of knowledge that the thing they feared the most had returned. A bane upon their lives for so long, they were not free of the Shadow just yet.

Perhaps they never would be, not while all three still lived.

Splendor forced herself to nod.