Flow

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The fishbone knife slid easily between Crystal’s scales, carving one away with a splash of ruby red blood that coated the tip of the blade. Crystal didn’t flinch, even as Flow shook the scale and the drops of blood into a large clam shell bowl. She merely withdrew her bleeding claw and watched her fellow Guardian work.

Flow continued chanting softly under her breath as she added some ash from the fire into the bowl, followed by a few herbs. She then filled the bowl with crystal clear water, swirled it around, and then stared into the depths, her eyes wide and unblinking.

She sensed Crystal settling in to wait; her clan leader was familiar with how Flow’s foresight worked, and she knew well enough by now that there was no rushing Flow’s visions. They would come to her when they came, and that was that.

At first, the bowl was just a normal bowl filled with water and the few odds and ends she had added to it. But slowly, to her eyes at least, the water began to darken. The tiny drop of blood she’d added multiplied and swirled up to form clouded shapes that ebbed and flowed into various scenes and images that slowly told a story of the future.

Flow watched the water dance, taking in every tiny hint it could possibly give her, every last curl of the blood, every last shift of the ripples, until she was sure she had absorbed the entire vision. Only then did she raise her head, her neck stiff and creaking from being bent over the bowl for so long. Around the room, the candles she had set up were all burnt low, wax pooling around their bases and their wicks curled, thick smoke circling their heads.

“Well?” Crystal asked, her voice pitched low. She had several scrolls and maps scattered around her feet, her one claw poised over a point on one map as if to hold her place.

Flow chewed over her thoughts for a moment, making sure she had them organized. “It’s…not promising,” she confessed quietly. Her voice was creaky with disuse. “There’s a good chance we won’t find them in time. The storm is coming in too quickly.”

Crystal’s expression didn’t shift, but Flow could sense her sudden spike of frustration, resignation, and sorrow. “Is there any chance at all? Did you see where they might have gone?”

Flow made her way over to Crystal’s notes, brushing aside a few until she found a crudely drawn map of the shorelines near the Cloudscrape Crags. “Here,” she pointed towards a small inlet, barely visible on the map. “A series of caves near here. I saw them disappear into one of them in my vision.”

Crystal’s jaw went tight. She knew how inhospitable those caves could be, especially to a pair of hatchlings who weren’t even from the Ice Flight. And if the cave system was elaborate, it might be next to impossible to find them in time. “We need more…something. More information. More time!” she thundered.

“There was one other thing that my vision showed me,” Flow was quick to add, turning back to her bowl and knife. They would need to be cleaned before her next ritual. “A guiding light that showed the way through the darkness. The only way to find the hatchlings in time is with that light.”

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” Crystal asked with a sour expression.

“Take Shimmer,” Flow told her simply.

“Shimmer! Shimmer is untested, untrained. She has only recently joined our clan. I won’t bring her along on such a dangerous mission, not before she’s ready.”

Flow simply shrugged. “Then the hatchlings are lost.”

Crystal bristled, flashing her fangs. “You don’t know that for certain.”

“No,” Flow agreed. “My visions are never perfect, and the future is always changing. But they are accurate enough often enough to be extremely helpful to you. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? Because you needed more information?”

“...yes,” Crystal admitted through gritted teeth.

“And this is why you have welcomed me into your clan, isn’t it? I can fight, and of course my magic is formidable, but there are plenty of other Guardians out there who also meet those qualifications. Plenty of dragons in this clan already, in fact! But my fortunes help you help others, and that’s why you come to me, and why you have always trusted my advice before.”

Crystal let out a great sigh. “You’re right. Of course.”

Flow reached out and rested a reassuring claw on Crystal’s shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. “You have led this clan well. Only the best of the best are here, and all of us are ready and willing to do whatever it takes to protect those in need. You chose Shimmer specifically for her talents. She might not quite be up to your personal standards yet, but she can hold her own. Bring her along. She won’t let you down.”

Slowly, Crystal nodded. “Alright. I trust you. I’ll send for Shimmer at once, so she can be briefed on the situation. Is there anything else I should know? Or should I gather the team?”

Flow paused, rubbing thoughtfully at her chin as she went through the vision in her mind one more time, looking for any other details that might be pertinent. “The younger hatchling really likes Frostbite Beetles.”

There was a pause as Crystal just stared at her. And then, shaking her head, she said, “I’ll see if we have any saved up in the hoard that we can bring along. I’m sure its relevance will only become clear later.”

Flow merely gave her a mischievous smile.

Once Crystal had gathered her notes up and left, grumbling under her breath about how prophecies were never a convenient checklist, Flow turned back to cleaning up her ritual room. As she picked up her bowl to empty it out, though, she paused. There seemed to be one more image growing within the water, even though she had been certain that she’d seen it all. As she watched, the vision resolved into an image of Crystal and Shimmer, each carrying one of the missing hatchlings on their back, exiting the sea cave and stepping back into the sunlight.

Flow took in the image, and smiled to herself, knowing that everything would turn out alright.

And then she dumped out her bowl to prepare it for her next vision.

Lore by CupcakeNova

Bio Template by TrickyLai