Cattail

Just A Slight Calculation Error...
Never Fear, For I Am Here. And I Brought Explosives.
Written by BlackRam!


The wind rolled lazy through the mouth of a thick, towering trunk. Its long, sturdy roots—high above the ground and surprisingly able to hold the tree's weight—formed an almost perfect arch. An arch into a deep, untame, largely unknown portion of the world. The obelisk's pale amber eyes flickered along the roots, watching tricky, wisping fairies dart to and fro, hiding beneath the glistening moss that entangled and shaded the roots of the ancient tree.

Her own scales shuddered with excitement. Each step a new thrill.

Cattail and Helios had received news of a curious happening within the depths of the Starwood Strand. A special, be-careful-not-to-get-bit kind of curious. While Genima Magus inhabited many a nook and cranny, the heart of the Starwood Strand was not any kind of a place for friendship and family.

And yet, Cattail looked as though she had received a brand new ink pen and a pristine roll of parchment for her one-minded ramblings, eyes glittering and throat rumbling in a dangerous delight.

As her small research group passed beneath the time-worn roots, she nearly caught a mouthful of the silky, transparent vines that hung from above, with her jaws agape in a silent awe. The star-littered ferns and foliage seemed to sing with the breeze, twinkling with each gentle breath. She had lived in Genima for some time now, their clan scattered among such plant life, but everything seemed just a tad bit... more the deeper they went. The secrets this place held, a place she had not dared to touch before only for the peace of mind of her clanmates—especially the anxious, kind-hearted Thistle.

However, such things could hold her no more.

"It is... beautiful." Helios near-purred. The skydancer's bright purple eyes roved up and down and around, their arcane glow strengthening as the team stepped further down; as the branches above them grew thick until they blotted out the sun; as they left all familiarity behind.

"I can't believe I'm finally here. I can't wait to take these findings back to Thistle," Cattail murmured, watching the world grow darker, stars twinkling in deep amethyst leaves. Maybe she should pluck a specimen or two. Would that be rude?

As the team descended, the ceiling only stretched upward, and the land below, from what Cattail could see with her bobbing and weaving neck—curse the dense bushes—surged and pulsed with pale pink light. Flashing, avian figures left trails of fuschia and turquoise over everything they touched, the bio-luminescent world responding to their presence.

She had heard of this, surely, the obelisk knew of this dark, neon cave, formed by ancient trees. But she had never before seen it. It was even more wonderful in person.

An aged, silvery-feathered skydancer, just a head taller than Helios, carried eyes far less jovial than the two researchers. His iron armor clinked as he strode ahead ,taking long, confident steps. Rhowen was his name. A good one, and well known through the clan. Behind his flowing silk robes and long striped tail were two of his best students, two of the only pupils he had deemed worthy of taking on personally. Long since graduated, they held their silence, one watchful and one a little more loose, walking close behind Cattail to get a look at everything she "oo"ed and "ah"ed over.

Helios herself darted about, rather recklessly. Her thin, trembling claws reached for every creature she could find, from a frog with... frankly, way too many eyes, to a ghostly owl that seemed to glare at her in disdain. Not even the peculiar, probably poisonous moths were free from her wriggling clutches.

"Are you seeing these specimens?!" The skydancer squawked, scaring off her potential quarry. "I've never seen life like this before! Journals just don't compare to the naked eye, do they?"

Cattail laughed, deep and smooth. " No, not even nearly! I do wonder, though." She looked to Helios, who returned her gaze with a hilariously arched brow. "Where exactly is all the danger everyone's been hooting about?"

Rhowen chimed in with a snort. "Keep putting your claws all over everything and I'm sure you'll find out. Magic will only get stronger the deeper we poke our noses, and eventually something volatile is going to bite."

The seriousness hit the sensitive Helios a little hard. She dipped her head and cast a glance off to the side, falling back in line properly behind her elder.

Cattail spread a wing over her friend's frail, tucked ones. "He's just worried. It's practically his job," the obelisk said, voice as comforting as she could manage. The skydancer's shoulders brushed Cattail's as they walked, seeking friendly comfort.

"I know. It's just...—" She started, eyes flicking up beneath her furrowed brows, before they blew wide. Fright consumed them, her pupils narrowing into shaky slits.

Cattail whipped her head toward Helios' gaze. Just as she caught sight of a talon, the world shifted beneath her.

The sound reached her first. A bone-chattering boom, and the hiss of something primal. Deadly.

Helios' scratchy screech came next, her body thrashing beneath the obelisk's weighty wing.

A bolt whistled past, lighting up the hazy ground with it's fiery pink glow, then another, and another. Cattail lifted her throbbing head to see Rhowen. A grim scowl blanketed his face as he recited a protection chant.

He looked almost scared.

Rhowen's protective dome flashed blue in the dark, hexagons clattering to fill the dead space. A talon, larger than any she had ever seen, scraped across the dome's surface moments later, sparks bubbling in it's wake.

The skydancer's chanting never stopped. The senior's voice came thick with panting and desperation. His eyes never left the talons, raking across the dome in succession. Then in unison. And then together in an earth-shaking slam; one Cattail felt in the teeth.

Helios' head popped out from beneath Cattail's wing. The obelisk finally remembered to move it. "Wha—" the skydancer wheezed, "what in Arcanist's name is that thing?"

Cattail didn't know how to respond. She could hardly hear anything with each successive thud. Her eyes flickered to the struggling mages.

Rhowen's lips and brows screwed up with concentration. He held the barrier alone. His students frantically tossed magic bolt after bolt, each just a little weaker than the last. They took turns meditating, desperate to keep the beast at bay. They wouldn't hold out for much longer.

Finally, Cattail let her eyes trail the relentless claws. Thick arms, like powerful columns, whipped back and forth, scraping the blue dome with pure muscle and weight. The darkness hid much else from her, but high above them, she caught eyes. Six, in total, spread across what must be three massive heads writhing in the glittering, all-consuming darkness. They glowed with an undeniable bloodlust, blue and pink and purple all honed in on the dragons with nothing but the thoughts of a predator.

Stalk. Kill. Eat.

Nothing else mattered.

The very look sent shivers down her spine. She flinched as the blue pair of eyes fixated on her. They tilted, then moved closer, and closer, until a maw of unbelievable size came into view. The light of the dome illuminated the faintest hint of the thing's scaley brows. It's sharp, serrated whiskers flowed to the sides, bobbing up and down as it bit on air with every word.
Un'svad s'veer rahnka.

It snapped, teeth engulfing the dome. The magic creaked and shrieked, buckling in some places. Cattail stared right into the center of the beast's throat, it's throat harboring a growing heat.

In a passing thought, Cattail wondered if this was what standing next to the core of a real star felt like.

Well. Cattail supposed this was why she had so many connections. She ripped her travel bag from her side, ignoring the whistling windup of what she was sure was a flesh-rending blast, and stuck her claws in. She rattled around, claws clinking on vials, until she wrapped her hand around a bottle. The obelisk yanked, careful not to break it just yet, worry practically dripping down her face. Finally, it dislodged. With a mighty arm, she reeled back and hurled it into the mouth of the beast.

The dome's particles parted for the hurtling bottle, the contents inside the glass whirling violently, red-hot.

On second thought, she probably shouldn't have been throwing stuff on top of it in her bag.

Cattail pleaded, eyes locked on the bottle. Please, please. This has to work.

The bottle hit the white-hot energy building in the beast's throat. But all was. Disappointingly well. Cattail's wings fell, and fear licked at her spine.

The moment her wingtips brushed the ground, the air resonated with a bang loud enough to render any dragon deaf. Cattail screwed her eyes shut to avoid being actually blind on top of ear-blind. Helios quivered behind her, cowering into the obelisk's flank.

The beast screamed. It's mighty body slithered in the dark, and it's claws retreated for hopefully the final time.

Cattail felt herself being prodded, and before she knew it, her talons scraped frantically alongside Helios as they raced back up the trail, Rhowen so hot on their heels he was nearly flying. Helios herself flapped her wings to get forward faster, unable to truly flee due to the overgrowth. Rhowen's students trailed just behind the skydancer himself, throwing curses and questions this way and that.

Helios shot Cattail a wild look. "What did you throw at that thing!?"

The obelisk chuckled, adrenaline coursing through her. She grinned, albeit a little insanely. "Never go on an adventure without explosives."