Fulmine

It was the biggest storm the dragons of the northeast section of the Charged Barrens had seen in decades. That was saying something, considering the sheer amount of storms that they had to weather through every day just to be able to live there, never mind daring to settle down. It started innocuously, seemingly like any other regular thunderstorm, but once it did- it didn't stop.

A thunderstorm that lasted ten days, the dragons whispered to each other, practically unheard of. The last storm that lasted ten days or more was half a century ago. The weather analysts determined one of the causes of the storm's longevity being the narrow corridor of water running from the Eastern Sornieth Sea to the Tsunami Flats. But even then, that had its limits. Surely there something else.

A freak magical accident, the rumours continued. The topography and the circumstances, the collision of some wind fronts, the manifestation of the Stormcatcher's anger. No one knew for sure, really.

Whatever the case, the storm was saturated in lightning magic. Anyone within a five-kilometer distance of the storm could feel its oppresive, dominating aura. Some flocked to the site to recharge their magic, others came to collect data. But once inside the five-kilometer boundary, everyone agreed that it was unsettling, how the magic almost sung, vibratingly tenuous, like a struck tuning fork.

Electronic equipment didn't work, the data-collectors soon found out. The land directly beneath and in the near vicinity of the storm could almost pass for arcane territory, with how much magic was swirling through it, disrupting yet continuous. And, well. With the magic came the consequences.


Its first feeling was the warmth, pleasant and inviting.

Its second was the quietness, only broken by periodic booms, but even that was muffled to the point of barely being audible. Shifting slightly, it startled at the feeling of moving. How strange.

And then promptly startled again at its thoughts. What an interesting thing, to be conscious of oneself.

It stretched outwards, trying to- confusion made it shrink back again. Why had it done that, again? Ah, right. It stayed in its position, but peered outwards instead. Darkness greeted them, all-encompassing, stretching fully around it, like that feeling of warmth. It strained harder.

Suddenly, it could see light. What seemed to be darkness was actually a rolling, swirling mass of endless shades of grey, and the periodic booms that it heard were actually accompanied by flashes of dim cyan light. Its many eyes blinked slowly, adjusting to the feeling of vision, and it hissed in discomfort at the sudden changes.

It tilted its head after a while, and grumbled. Everything was so quiet. It glanced around, then concentrated and suddenly, the noise, the periodic booms became much, much clearer. The movement of the clouds also made wind rush past, though the wind was oddly quiet. Just a soft, howling roar.

Right now, its body was made up of wisps of some dark material, condensed electricity occasionally crackling through it. After some testing, it found out that it could finally roll through the air. It turned around once, and then set off to perhaps discover something other than grey.


"What is that?"

"A stray bit of cloud?"

"Where, where?"

"See that thing near the western edge?"

"Oh deities above..."

"It's... it's coming towards us!"

"Run!"