Fulgurite

Glorin ducked into the makeshift den. Outside the brief lull in the storm was coming to an end. Inside, the recipient of the message she carried was perched over his work. A large canvas tarp was spread on the ground before him, strewn with all manner of strange artifacts for him to sort through. Many of them were large chunks of fulgurite, as that is what he had traveled here to find. Most of the samples he had seemed unsatisfactory.

The focused bogsneak barely acknowledged his visitor, still cataloging the samples on the tarp. Glorin knew better than to interrupt a dragon who was at work, so she waited for him to be finished before handing off the parcel. Inside was a strange vessel of glass and metal. The top was a long glass dome or tube, and the bottom was a mechanical device enclosed with a metal case. It looked nearly as makeshift as the den. He turned it over in his claws a few times before setting it on the table - which was really just his supply crate turned on its side - and looking at the letter which came with it...

Oswald frowned. The letter was from his mentor, but the order transcribed had come from the Queen. He was to leave before the next dawn. "I'm not finished yet. I haven't found enough... the lines should be nearby, but if I'm going to find them, I need more time." He looked up at the messenger, who knew nothing of what she had delivered to him. "I'm supposed to pack and leave before dawn..."

The skydancer was taken aback. "That... wouldn't be safe. The storm is going to get much worse, I saw it as I was coming in. I had planned to stay here for a day or two until it passed."

---

But orders from the Queen were not lightly disobeyed.

---

Oswald considered his options. He did not want to abandon his project, and he did not think he was meant to. His mentor would not have sent him that strange device if all he was going to do was come right back home with it. Examination of the vessel revealed it was for the capture and storage of elemental energy, attuned particularly to Lightning.

Outside the storm got worse.

The bogsneak picked up the device and the pack which contained his other tools, and made for the tunnel out of the shelter. Glorin objected strongly to this. It was dangerous, even for him. He was pretty sure she was right, but he still had work left to do. An ancient line of cables ran through this section of desert, beckoning powerful elemental forces along its course, but there were no maps which indicated to what ends the lines ran. It had been a pet project for a little while, but then Oswald had gotten very close. The fulgurite which formed in the area was imbued with strange properties. If he was going to have to leave, he wasn't going without at least a few samples of real promise.

---

Outside in the storm and raging gale. Oswald was certain he made the wrong decision. He was caught now, pressing himself up against a short cliff for whatever possible shelter it could provide. He had no idea where the den was. He had no idea where he was.

Visibility was terrible, dust and hail, then a blinding light as a bolt struck very near to him, thunder rippled across his body. A moment later there was another burst of lightning as a bolt of energy skittered sideways across the land ahead of him, vanished, then appeared again, having changed direction.

Oswald closed his eyes tight, trying to watch the events through his eyelids, which cast everything in a blue haze, like it was all underwater. The details were lost, but he could see that wild bolt, leaping, sailing, crashing back to earth, then skittering again across the ground, bounding side to side before him. It was alive.

He tried to call out, but the lightning bounded away. He pushed himself away from the rocks and shambled after it. It moved quick, but never left. Dashing ahead only to circle back to him. Wild lines in the sand appeared along its path. Veins of lightning within the earth itself.

---

There was a ruined structure, half encased in stone which had by some incredible force heaved itself up and around the place. Broken pylons peeked shyly out of the earth, and the light had vanished into a narrow opening in the stone. It would have been too narrow for a dragon of Oswald's size to follow, but the ooze-dragon squeezed through without too much difficulty, taking great care that his equipment not get caught in the passageway.

He tumbled into a dark and sheltered interior of some long forgotten ruin, utterly exhausted. He saw the bolt continuing to bounce and dart, slipping around destroyed devices, vanishing into cracks, leaping out of cables. Oswald reached into his bag and pulled out the vessel that Glorin had delivered. "Hold still for a second?" He asked, trying to be a little polite, realizing that using his device on whatever it was might be rather rude.

He activated it, and the bolt leapt to him, slamming into the device and showing the area in crackling sparks. In the same moment a tiny black shape fell out of the air and landed on the ground with a soft thud, though Oswald didn't notice at first, on account of the lightning that had just enveloped his hands and face.

When Oswald could see again, he saw the device was brimming with Lightning, nearly overwhelmed. It shon like a lantern, filling the space with white-blue light, and illuminating the little figure which lay on the other side of the room.

Curled up on the floor was a little spiral. Scales as dark as a stormy night, with a quietly glowing vein of lightning splintering over its hide. It was a tiny thing, not very old, Oswald would guess, not that he knew much about children. It opened one eye and peered at him. "Oooooh. It stopped." said the little spiral, his tone one of wonder. "Thanks, I think."

---

The little spiral had been separated from its parents and siblings while they were traveling - by what means no one could be sure. He didn't remember himself. All he remembered was the storm, and coming upon a strange place which seemed at the center of it and trying to find shelter. Instead, the storm swallowed him up transfiguring him into living lightning until that energy was captured by Oswald.

It was astonishing that such a young and frail creature could survive the ordeal, but he did not remember it being an ordeal. He had followed the storm, and eventually decided that such would be his lot in life. He missed other dragons a little, but he loved to leap between the clouds and crash into the earth and fly faster than anyone ever could. When he saw Oswald, though, he knew that he wanted to help, and led him to the nearest structure he could find. It was a bit of a relief though, being able to sleep for a while, and having other dragons to talk to.

He slept most of the way to Oswald's clan, though it was a long journey. His new friend kept a close eye on him, and seemed very concerned for his well-being. Oswald worried about the lightning marks on the spiral's body. They seemed to be getting brighter...

The little spiral had been what Oswald was looking for, but he was a far more precious prize than any old forgotten secrets of the desert.

They have a natural knack for predicting the weather, and have honed that with additional study and labor. They can provide reasonably accurate forecasts and along with other dragons in the region, produce a highly useful seasonal almanac.