Tidewrath

"So, we each get to pick a door," Skava said. "This should be fun."

"I'm not sure 'fun' is the right word for it," Skali replied, nervously adjusting his woodmask.

Skava looked at the list of doors, where each dragon had checked off their chosen room. "You should pick 13," she said, fanning her frills playfully at her mate. "Tricksy Shadow magic and all that."

If he had been any other breed of dragon, Skali would have whimpered aloud. "She doesn't work that way," he whispered.

"Nonsense. It'll be fine." Skava wrote his name on the parchment. A glow surrounded the words for a moment. "Wow. I guess it's final now."

"O-okay..."

"Chin up, Skali. I'll take 26. It's got to be twice as unlucky, right?"

"Sure." The Fae stared down the hallway.

"Tidewrath?"

"I'm honestly not sure what my deepest desire is," the Mirror admitted. "It might be something irresistible."

"That's what the protection rune is for," Skali said.

The Mirror huffed, but looked uncertain. "Fine. I'll take 44." Fourth child she thought.

"We'll meet back here in 15 minutes." Skava flapped her frills excitedly. "Let's go.

Tidewrath willingly accepted Maria's offer of a protection spell. She was a physical fighter, and the only spells she knew were enhancement spells to give her extra speed or strength. Her own claws and fangs were protection enough...usually. But when it came to magical mind games, she was certainly willing to take on outside help.

Her door looked no different on the outside than any of the others. She opened it and stepped through, onto the training fields she knew so well. She made her way down the path, wondering what her desire was. This just seemed like any other routine day.

She felt other presences beside her. That too was common; she always had recruits, or occasionally another warrior, tagging alongside.

She followed her usual paths through the various training venues, slashing, clawing, hacking, biting. Nothing out of the ordinary. And yet she felt...content somehow.

She half turned her head, and stopped dead in her tracks. To her left, she saw her brother Puddenston, who had disappeared. He had been fighting alongside her this whole time. And beyond him, she saw her exalted brothers and sisters, who had gone to serve their various deities, and her warrior sister Bricka, who was usually hunting with Aquilo and Melete, not training with her. She also saw her few children, whom she had raised solely for devotion to the Tidelord. Beyond them she saw their parents, who had gone traveling and didn't really expect to come back.

She was almost afraid to look to her other side, but she had to. A handsome Mirror male stood beside her, claws bloody from their last kill. She didn't recognize him, nor the many children stretching off behind him. But she knew he was her lifelong mate and battle partner...at least in this dream-world.

She belonged to a pack.

Her eyes filled with tears, and she crouched down and covered her head, hoping the visions would go away. She felt something on her forehead pulse, and she looked up to find herself in the middle of a stone-walled room. Something lay on the floor in front of her...a beautiful sword. That was what she thought she had wanted, but it meant very little to her now. Cautiously, she picked it up, wondering if it was cursed. She'd let the pirate sisters examine it first.

Back in the common room, she found her two companions sitting very close, and talking animatedly with one another. Pain twisted through her heart, and she turned away. She would meet up with them later.

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Name: Tidewrath Race: Water Genasi Class: Lv 14 Barbarian (Path of the Zealot) Background: Folk Hero STR.... DEX CON INT WIS CHA 17 14 16 13 12 10 Abilities Feature - Rustic Hospitality Acid Resistance Amphibious Swim Call to the Wave Rage Unarmored Defense Danger Sense Reckless Attack Divine Fury Warrior of the Gods Fast Movement Fanatical Focus Feral Instinct Brutal Critical Zealous Presence Relentless Rage Rage Beyond Death