Creative Corner

[center][font=book antiqua][size=5]Moving On[/size] "Deus, please!" Quae grabbed onto Deus' wing and pulled him back into their shared sleeping den. "Deus, please just listen to me." Tears streamed down Quae's snout. He released his grip on Deus and stared down at the rocky cave floor. "Deus, I need you to stay. This place still needs you. You don't need to go." Deus sighed. He ran his talons through his lover's mane before dropping his hand down and turning back towards the exit. "This place has strayed from the influence of the gods. Very few dragons still practice worship of the eleven. I've done all I can and I must leave now." "What about me? I thought you loved me." "This isn't about me or you, Quae. I have a duty and I must complete it. You know I love you. I just can't be here." Deus walked out of the cave, leaving Quae to fall apart. He turned just before getting out of earshot. "There's supposedly going to be a new god coming in. I don't know anything about them though." Quae crumpled onto the ground. He tried to control himself, but couldn't stop the sobs from escaping him. His whole body shook as he tried to regain control. Deus couldn't be replaced. No god could replace the love of his life, his soulmate. Taiala stared at the building he was in. It was strange. There were plush couches and chairs and a large koi pond. Stranger still, was the window that showed the realm of death and torment. Taiala was supposedly there to meet Kaliya, a god of death. He was an apprentice god of death, working to become the god of the reapers. He was none too happy that he was going to apprentice in the mortal world. Taiala hated mortals. They were greedy and mean. They killed each other ruthlessly and didn't care who had to clean up afterwards. Taiala sighed and and slumped into the couch. He opened his traveling bag and pulled out the documents on the empire. He had the information on every member of the empire. He was grateful, at the very least, that there were other immortals in the empire. There were gods, demi gods, mushrooms, and shade dragons. The shade wasn't the best, but, if the documentation could be trusted, most of the shade dragons were nice. The door to the shop opened. The goddess Kaliya walked in with her tail waving back and forth. She seemed genuinely pleased. She passed right by Taiala, seeming to ignore him, and pulled some fish food out of her cloak to feed the koi. "Uh, excuse me." Taiala said in an annoyed tone. Kaliya raised a brow and looked at the god in training. "Watch your tone with me, little one. I am your master and patron. Show some respect." Taiala humphed. He stood up from the couch. "Sorry Mistress Kaliya. I'm eager to learn." "Yes, well, there's more to being a god than just ordering others around and being annoying. Especially as a god of death, you will have to deal with the dead, demons, angels, and other gods." "But not mortals. Mortals mean nothing." "Mortals are the precursor to your main job, 'god of the reapers.'" Taiala frowned and shrugged. "I guess." Kaliya sighed. "There's a demon who lives here. I want you to go talk to him and learn more about demons. You'll be working with them once you finish your apprenticeship. The ones who live in the mortal world often act as guardian angels to keep mortal souls out of hell. The ones who live in hell do the paperwork about evil souls and torture them. The demon here never lived in hell, but he is quite nice." Taiala stood up from the couch and headed towards the door. "Taiala?" "Yes?" "Would you like a map?" Taiala stopped in his tracks. "Yes. Thank you." Quae lay wrapped in his blankets in his sleeping den. It had been nearly a month since Deus left, but Quae still hadn't recovered. He thought of the god as his soulmate. He wanted to get married. Still, in the back of his mind, he thought of the other god who was to arrive in the empire. He hadn't heard anything about it, but he really hadn't been out and about much. Talons clicked down the hallway of the caves. Quae rolled over and faced the wall. He didn't want to talk to anyone. He presumed it was Aevitas coming down the hall. The thick scent of flowers filled the room. That was definitely not Aevitas. Quae ignored the other presence. He wasn't going to deal with that. "Quaeinfernum, right? Kaliya sent me here to talk to you. You're a demon, right?" The voice was strange. It was light and comforting, but it still somehow managed to irritate Quae. "I'm trying to sleep. Go away." Taiala growled. "Demons don't sleep. I'm not stupid. Get up." "Great first impression." Quae replied sarcastically. He sat up from his bed and stared deadpan at Taiala. "Are you supposed to replace Deus?" "I'm not here to replace anyone. I don't even know who Deus is. I'm here to apprentice with Kaliya." Taiala sat heavily on the floor and stared right back at the demon. "Well, I'm not in the mood to answer your dumb questions. Go away." "No." "It wasn't a request, get out of my den. I don't want to deal with you." "What's your deal? I was told you were a nice and genuine guy, but here you are, being a total jerk. I was told you were sweet and sociable. What a terrible impression everyone has of you." Taiala scowled at Quae. "Get over yourself." Taiala stared at Quae, demanding answers. "I don't owe you a single thing. You haven't even got the common sense or basic social decency to introduce yourself." Quae stood up from his bed and stood over Taiala. Taiala stood up, showing off his height. He flared out his wings in a threatening manner. "Get off your high horse. Your whole job is to help mortals, but I don't think you can manage to do that if you're holed up in here moping over 'Deus.' And my name's Taiala." Taiala let his wings fall and turned around. "You're a waste of my time. I'll let Kaliya know that you're nothing more than a washed up sorry excuse of an immortal. A waste of breath and a waste of space." Taiala's tail whipped Quae's front legs as he turned to leave. "I'm not a waste. I'm a great demon. I'm gonna help you with your damn apprenticeship so you can get out of here as soon as possible." Taiala shrugged. "Whatever. I have more important stuff to deal with. You know, like guiding the souls of dead children so brutally murdered by the dragons you can't help." [columns][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/44171243][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/441713/44171243.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/43522249][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/435223/43522249.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/66292211][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/662923/66292211.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/59694366][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/596944/59694366.png[/img][/url][/columns]

[center][font=book antiqua][size=5]A Reaper's Work[/size] Taiala tilted his wings to the left, turning before diving down to the ground and landing softly. His flowers and lanterns rustled slightly as he did so. He was in a small town on an island between Dragonhome and the Viridian Labyrinth. Despite the island being such a beautiful place, it was the site of a bloody and terrible battle. Both the earth and nature dragons had claim to the island and refused to let it slip into the talons of their enemy. But war didn't concern Taiala. He was the janitor of souls. He was the one who had to clean up the messes of the mortals. Most of the souls had been taken care of already, but there was one no one wanted to touch. It was a small hatchling. She couldn't have been very old. Seldom few reapers had the stomach to deal with dead children. Truth be told, Taiala didn't either, but someone had to do it. Taiala was honored that his face would be the one hatchlings would take with them to the afterlife. The hatchling was curled up in her bed. The battle had only been over for a few minutes. Her body was still warm. Her cold soul clung to it like a safety blanket. Taiala approached the spiral hatchling cautiously. She tensed up when she saw him. He reached up and took off his skull mask. He strapped it to his traveling belt and knelt next to the bed. He held out his paw for the hatchling to take. She began to move, but after seeing her body remain stationary, she snapped back to fit into it. Taiala took a deep breath to steel his nerves. A kind and soft smile claimed his face as he began to speak. "Hey there. I'm Taiala. I heard that you might need a friend. Do you mind if I stay here with you?" The little girl nodded. Taiala sat next to her bed and plucked a flower from his crown. He tucked it behind her tiny ear and smiled broadly. "That looks beautiful on you. Do you have a name?" The little girl pursed her lips. "Momma told me not to tell strangers about me." Taiala laughed lightly, a sound like pure sunshine. "Your momma sounds very smart. You don't have to worry about telling me though. I was sent to take care of you after all that scary stuff that happened." "Oh. Okay. I'm Annie." Taiala could feel tears begin the prickle at the corners of his eyes. He so desperately wanted to help elderly dragons he could accept death, not adorable little girls who still listened to their mothers. Taiala opened his satchel and pulled out a soft, white, plush rabbit. "Would you like to hold onto this rabbit? This may look like a normal plushie, but this here is Snowbank. She's a protector. If you ever get scared or if the monsters under your bed get too scary, Snowbank will keep you safe." Taiala held the rabbit out to Annie who eagerly took it and held it tight to her chest. "Thank you." She nuzzled her snout into the top of Snowbank's head. "Can I bring you somewhere safe, Annie? There won't be any loud sounds or bad smells. Your mom and dad will be there too." Taiala had seen the bodies of two spiral in the entryway of the home. Their souls had been taken already. Reapers were just efficient like that. Annie nodded. Taiala scooped her soul up and pressed her tiny head to his chest. He didn't want her to see anything around them. There was so much blood. No child needed to see that. Taiala rubbed her ears gently until she relaxed into his chest. Her soul was warmer than most. It was still cold compared to a physical body, but warm. She hadn't been alive long enough for her soul to settle into her body. She still had with her the warmth of the spirit world. It hadn't yet left her. Taiala held her with one arm and strapped his mask back on. He didn't want her to see him cry. Holding the still warm souls of children was the worst part. Talking to them was sad, crushing even, but feeling the warmth and knowing they weren't yet part of the world they had been so brutally removed from hurt the worst. Taiala took a deep breath and pushed off the ground. Once they were far from the village, he released his hold on Annie slightly. She looked at the world below them with wonder and awe. "Wow! I can't fly yet. I've never seen this before." She sounded so innocent. Taiala took a deep breath and hastily wiped the tears slipping out from under his mask. He moved Annie from his chest to his back and let her watch from there, nestled in with his soft feathery wings. They crossed into the spirit world quickly. Taiala landed on a platform in the clouds. He dropped his wing so Annie could slide off. There was a small river between the landing platform and the afterlife. "Just cross that river and your friends and family will be there. You'll be safe." Taiala pointed to the distant land beyond the river. "Do you want Snowbank back?" Annie asked sweetly. Taiala shook his head. "No. She's all yours." Annie pushed off the ground and threw herself into Taiala's chest. She held onto his neck as tightly as she could. Taiala allowed her to hug him for just a moment before pulling her off. He set her gently on the ground and smiled warmly. "Be safe, Annie." He kissed the top of her head softly and pushed her towards the river. Annie waved happily and jumped across the river. Taiala watched her for a moment before leaping off the platform and returning to the mortal world. He dove straight down to the ground. He took off his mask and allowed the tears to stream and fly up around him. He heaved a sob, choking on his own pain. He returned to the village and buried Annie's body. He put one of his white lanterns on her grave as well as a flower. He had done all he could. Taiala was the reaper of the young. It was a title he wore proudly, but not one he wore easily. He would wear it as long as they needed him though. No matter how much it hurt, he knew it was so much worse for them. He was happy to help. [columns][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/66292211][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/662923/66292211.png[/img][/url][/columns]

[center][font=book antiqua][size=5]Voluntary Corruption[/size] Fera ran through the woods, heading to Venandari and Regalis' nest. He hopped up onto his hind legs and stuck his nose into the hole in the front of the tree. He went crossed eyed looking at the two tiny dragons in the sap nest. They were enjoying breakfast. "Uh hey. Hello. So. I think we've got a thing. Not an issue or a problem really, but a thing that must be addressed. Could you spare some time?" Fera sniffed at the insects they were eating and wrinkled his nose in disgust. Venandari sighed. He quickly finished eating and flew out above Fera's head. He grew to be about the same size as Fera and wrapped his tail around his talons. Regalis took his breakfast of scorpions and grubs and sat on Venandari's nose to finish. "What's the thing, Fera?" Venandari asked, trying to keep his snout as still as possible so Regalis could enjoy his meal. "Ah okay. So I've been doing some thinking. So we know a lot of gods and demi gods and little gods and minor gods and demons and cultists and evil abominations, but I don't think everything we've been taught or everything we think is exactly as true as we'd like to believe. For example, the being that was in my first clan, Soulpeace, Reanimated, whatever you want to call him, he's kind of just sad. Like the poor guy was isolated forever and it drove him painfully mad, I think. And the cult that was supposed to be bad, the one the eleven warned us about, they're super nice. Amoral is super cool and nice and sweet. He's just a sweetie. Okay and then also, the shade dragons, excluding Soya, because she's a legitimate psychopath, are super nice too. Hyun and Bertholdt just want to help others and use their abilities for good." Fera took a deep breath. He hadn't stopped to breathe or think in his whole rant. "So?" Regalis asked. "So, I think, well, I don't really know how to articulate this. I mean, these things that were so clearly labeled good and bad aren't. The dragons I thought were irredeemable are just traumatized. The dragons who worship bad things are actually super nice. The things we were taught by the eleven aren't quite true. Also, as the spirit on animals, I don't want to keep following the eleven." "Whoa, slow down, Fera." Venandari removed Regalis from his snout and set the fae on a branch. "We can't just abandon the eleven. They created us." "So?" Fera retorted. "What do you mean, 'so?' We can't abandon the gods." "Yes we can. Easily. I think we need to be above religion. We should focus whole heartedly on our domains. I want to take care of animals, regardless of what the gods think. You and Regalis need to take care of plants and love and whatever. We were created for that purpose. We should serve our purpose, not our creator." Fera sat heavily on his haunches and stared intensely at the other two. It was clear he had already made up his mind. "I like this plan, Fera." Regalis licked the remains of his breakfast off of his talons. "I don't really care about the well being of mortals. My roses are what matter. If we officially distance ourselves from the eleven, we won't be shackled by those responsibilities. Venandari, you wouldn't have to worry about what Lightweaver thinks about you. You could grow your woods as big as you wanted. Politics would mean nothing to you anymore. Not worshipping the eleven doesn't make you evil." Venandari thought for a moment. "I suppose that's true. I could continue my duties without the shackles of policy or relative moral responsibility." "Yeah. That's exactly what I've been saying this whole time. I think some dragons refer to it as self worship. You just focus on yourself and do what makes you happy, without hurting or killing others of course." A small smile spread onto Fera's usually anxious face. "So, have your own personal morals that aren't garbage and stay on your own track." Regalis nodded. "I like this. I like it a lot." "We're corrupted spirits then. Technically. Spirits that leave the influence of the eleven are considered corrupted." Venandari pointed out. "That's fine with me. Labels mean less than nothing to me. We worship ourselves and only ourselves because we're powerful strong spirits." Regalis flexed his muscles jokingly. Venandari chuckled slightly. "Alright. Then we're a troupe of corrupted spirits now. I'll make an official statement. I can't imagine Adonis will be happy about this one." [columns][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/36170059][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/361701/36170059.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/36033717][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/360338/36033717.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/36003479][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/360035/36003479.png[/img][/url][/columns]

[center][font=book antiqua][size=5]The Beginning of the Fall[/size] Ezra thumped his tail impatiently on Tower's living room floor. The spiral lived in a large treehouse built around the biggest tree in the woods. How she got that property, Ezra had no clue, but he was glad that such a powerful dragon would have such a nice place to live. What he wasn't pleased about was the fact that Tower had asked him to meet with her and then was almost two hours late. Eventually, Tower wandered in, wrapped around Fin's wing joint. She happily chattered away to him about magic and changing the empire. Ezra snorted and glared at the pair. The expression melted away quickly though. He really couldn't stay mad at his most powerful best friends for too long. His thumps of irritation quickly turned into happy tail wagging. "Ezra!" Tower sang. "Sorry to keep you waiting, love! Fin and I were having the most amazing discussion about immortality! I'm not technically immortal, but I definitely think I could be. Reverse aging spells should be easy to engineer!" Ezra stared in amazement at Tower and Fin. "Amazing," he muttered under his breath. "Aren't we? You're so lucky to have such powerful friends! Oh! Oh!" Tower flew away from Fin and landed on the coffee table. "I didn't tell you what we were meeting about, did I?" Ezra shook his head. "Oh! Well! So, Fin and I were talking, about you. You have like zero magic power. That's fine, like totally fine and valid, but you're super strong! Like you're the best swordsman we know! So, for that reason, we've obviously gotta take you everywhere we go!" Ezra raised a brow. Where could they possibly be going? Fin cut in. "Not any physical place. We just mean emotionally and through time. We want you to keep up with us and live forever with us." Ezra nodded. That didn't seem like a problem. Fin's tone was concerning though. He seemed like he was withholding something. Fin glanced at Tower and nudged her, clearly not wanting to share whatever information it was that he was withholding. "Okay okay. Ezie, here's the thing. So, because you aren't a magical being, which is fine and valid cuz you're amazing. Uh well, you see..." Tower trailed off, trying to figure out how to phrase everything. "If we tried to use reverse aging spells on you, you could quite literally die. Like explode into a million pieces as the magic burned through your veins. So. That's obviously an issue." Ezra blinked slowly, trying to process everything. On one hand, he would've loved to stay with his friends forever and learn from them, but to risk his own life, was too great an obstacle. Ezra cleared his throat. "Is there a solution?" "I'm glad you asked!" Tower chided. Fin grabbed her snout to shut her up. "We're going to curse you." "What?" "What do you mean 'what?' It's fairly simple. We're going to curse you." Fin walked over to the window and pointed to the small treehouse that housed Hyun and Bertholdt. "The shade dragons can help. We don't want to give you the shade, because that's bad, but they know some shady dragons. Additionally, Cardinal, from the caravan, deals in illegal goods, so he knows a lot of stuff." Ezra frowned slightly. He didn't like dealing with shade dragons. They were magical beings, but it was twisted and tainted. They scared him. He also didn't particularly like Cardinal. The nocturne had no hint of magic and instead pirated and stole magical items. Fin grabbed Ezra's snout between two talons. "Stop with that thinking face. You always overthink and act like you have to do everything at once. Just think for a bit. Take a deep breath. Cardinal is our best option and he won't be in town until this weekend. When they come back, we can talk again, okay?" Ezra nodded. Tower cocked her head. "When did you become so levelheaded, Fin?" Fin shrugged. "I guess Plato is rubbing off on me. I hope I'm influencing him as much as he influences me." By the time the caravan made it back into town, Ezra had made up his mind; he would talk to Cardinal, but that didn't necessarily mean he had to make any deals. Fin went with Ezra to talk business. They decided to leave Tower behind so she didn't make negotiating any more difficult. Cardinal was the only one with the caravan when Ezra and Fin arrived. Apparently the others had gone into town to resupply, leaving Cardinal to keep everything together. When they arrived, Cardinal was rearranging some padding in a box full of dragon eggs. "Need something?" He asked in a deep raspy voice. Fin looked to Ezra, who nodded. Fin stepped up in front of Ezra. "We're in search of cursed items." Cardinal rolled his eyes. "What type of curse?" "Uh. I'm not sure. We just need something that will curse my friend here so we can cast spells on him without him dying." Fin tapped his talon anxiously on the ground. "Do you have something like that?" Cardinal nodded. "Yeah. Obviously. I've got a jar with a cursed spirit. Open it and you'll be cursed. Small enough to keep you in control, but large enough to keep you from dying. Her name is Elise. She's a sweetheart. You'll love her." Ezra frowned slightly. He didn't like the thought of some being living inside of him. Noting Ezra's expression and always seeking a sale, Cardinal continued. "She won't be able to control you or talk to you. She'll just be sort of a vessel to contain magic. With a strong mage, you can have her removed." Fin turned to Ezra. "What do you think? It's your choice." Ezra nodded. He was okay with it. He was friends with two powerful mages. If anything went wrong, he could have them remove Elise from him. Being cursed wasn't too bad anyways. Especially with a mellow spirit. Fin negotiated the price with Cardinal before returning with Ezra to the city. The pair went to Fin's place, which he shared with Plato. Fin set the jar in the middle of the floor and moved to the outer edge. "Go ahead and open it. If something goes wrong, I'll call Tower and we can take care of everything, okay?" Fin gave Ezra a thumbs up. Ezra nodded and took a deep breath. He wedged his talons under the lip of the lid and pulled it off. Strange white and pink energy swirled around Ezra before disappearing inside of him. Ezra blinked slightly. He hadn't thought it would be so light looking. A voice came from inside Ezra's head. "Hello Ez! It seems as though the dragon you bought this from didn't actually know what I am. I'm a spirit, but not a cursed one. My name is Elise and I'm a spirit of light and knowledge. I won't talk to you unless you want me to and I can keep you from dying when people use magic on you! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Ezra responded by thought. "Oh. It's nice to meet you Elise. I appreciate your candor. You can feel free to warn me if you sense things I don't or to warn me, but I'm not much of a conversationalist. I hope you won't feel too trapped or bored." "Oh! Not at all! Your head is infinitely more interesting than that jar! I should warn you though, you are now possessed. That could cause problems with the religious type. So, be wary." "I thought you were a light spirit?" "I am, but I am still technically an undead creature who has yet to move onto the afterlife due to unresolved business. So. I'm light by element, but not by anything else. Anyways! I'll leave you alone! Bye bye Ez!" Ezra blinked, clearing the heaviness from his eyes. It seemed all would turn out alright afterall. [columns][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/65089263][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/650893/65089263.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/68824269][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/688243/68824269.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/61782653][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/617827/61782653.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/37025953][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/370260/37025953.png[/img][/url][/columns]

[center][font=book antiqua][size=5]Part of Your World[/size] Plato rolled over in his bed to come face to face with his loving boyfriend, Fin. The pearlcatcher was snoring slightly and a little bit of drool leaked out of the corner of his mouth. Plato, despite his best efforts not to, had fallen head over heels for Fin. It was a good arrangement though. The otherwise loose cannon of a cursed dragon had become wiser and more refined. Philosophical and moral discussions with Plato had certainly helped Fin to become more controlled. The pearlcatcher was still pretty hedonistic and tended not to care about others. He often did whatever he wanted, but he put more thought into his decisions. It was quite heartwarming to Plato to know that he was rubbing off on Fin. In quite the same way, however, Fin was also rubbing off on Plato. Plato was learning to be more selfish and to trust himself and rely on himself more than he relied on gods and otherworldly beings. He was really learning to be his own god and worship and respect himself. It was conflicting though. Plato had always been a rather devout follower of godly beings, so to cast them off was something else entirely. Plato had talked about it with some of the other teachers and that only made him more conflicted. Kintsugi, Natalem, Siantha, and Laozi were all devout. However, the others had already either given up the gods or were indifferent about it. Some were even intrigued about the idea of self worship. Plato sighed and threw a wing over Fin, who snuggled into his chest, smearing drool everywhere. Plato wanted to be more part of Fin's world. He was always thinking about morality and philosophy; he loved everyone and, according to Fin, he could be more adept at helping others if he first knew how to help himself. Fin woke up with a start. He blinked away the haze and planted a soft kiss on Plato's neck. "Good morning, lover," Fin murmured. Plato wound his talons into Fin's mane and gently scratched. "Sleep well?" Fin hummed. "Yeah. Dreamt about us." "Yeah? Something interesting?" Fin chuckled. "I dreamt that we were gods among men and watched the world burn beneath us, saving only the ones we deemed worthy." "Oh. That's nice, but maybe, if we become gods, we can keep our people alive. Can't be a god with no one to worship you." "You're so smart, Plato. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful lover." Plato flushed and buried his face into Fin's mane. Maybe he could fall a bit to the dark side. It was so tantalizing. He could teach his fellow professors as well, so they could make their decisions. Perhaps he would become part of Fin's world; in the best ways possible. [columns][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/51779578][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/517796/51779578.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/61782653][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/617827/61782653.png[/img][/url][/columns]

[center][font=book antiqua][size=5]Reuniting[/size] Faithful and Merciful flew on either side of Sangue, guiding her as she began the long flight back to her home. They had been in the Southern Icefield, dealing with a string of hypothermia cases, caused by a large storm. Sangue had sewn many limbs back on, saving the wellbeing of hunters, gatherers, and whole clans. She really was an incredible dragon, just a bit standoffish. Merciful bumped wings with Sangue. "Hey, Sangue?" She glanced out of the corner of her eye at him, trying to keep attention on the journey ahead. "What?" "You're not really our sister, are you?" Sangue scoffed. "Obviously not. I've been telling you that the whole time." "Where's our actual sister?" "She's back at the empire. She's a real maniac. Her name is Tulips." Sangue frowned a bit. "Why have you never asked before? Why the interest now?" "Well, when we were traveling through Dragonhome and the Windswept Plateau we met some of our other siblings. There's a lot more of them than I thought. Including Faithful and myself, there's sixteen. We always kind of suspected you weren't, but you're so helpful to dragonkind. We wanted to believe that our sister was someone who helped rather than a self proclaimed 'agent of chaos.' We so desperately wanted you to be our sister." Merciful pulled off his blindfold. "Our eyes are the same. I was hoping. But I guess hope will never give you more than disappointment." Sangue shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with hope. It just needs to be based on something. You're putting too much stock into things that have no backing. You're more intelligent than that. So prove it." The rest of the flight to the empire was comparatively quiet. It took a little while to fly across the continent, so they had to camp out. For the most part, Sangue kept them awake with potions and caffeinated drinks. When they landed at the border of the woods, they were let in with no problems. Sangue split off from her fake brothers to go find her adopted father while the brothers headed to the tavern, to begin the search for Tulips. Sangue had drawn a picture of her for them to reference. The tavern was rather lively. There was music and magic. It was a tower rather than a typical tavern, with balconies overlooking the bottom floor. Barmaids flew up to the balconies to deliver the ordered drinks. Faithful and Merciful felt out of place. A building of such hedonistic revelry wasn't a place for such religious devotees. Faithful tugged on Merciful's wing and pointed towards a dragon sitting at a booth alone. She was rather ornately dressed and sat like a queen among peasants. Merciful stepped up to the table and clicked his talon on the table. "Excuse me, are you Tulips?" The woman's face twisted into a smile. "I may be, but what is a name? Useless, right? A name is whatever I want it to be." Merciful blinked. "So. Yes?" "Yes." Merciful nodded. "Great. Nice to meet you, Tulips. I'm Merciful and this is my brother, Faithful. We're your brothers." "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb, dear boys. My family is whomever I choose them to be." At that moment, Sangue came in the door. She immediately spotted the boys and stomped over the them in a huff. "That good for nothing Amoral has yet again spat upon the bond I thought we had, so we're leaving." Tulips stared at Sangue. "Oh, how things have become interesting. The long lost surgeon returns. Will she stay or will she yet again leave us to dwell in unhealth?" "I for one," Merciful began, "would like to stay here. This empire needs us and our sister needs us." "I need none but myself." "We should stay," Faithful agreed. Sangue sighed. "You can stay, but I will not. I have no need to be around Amoral. The dragons here don't appreciate me." "On the contrary, I would appreciate you deeply. Oh to have someone to sell my wares to and become so symbiotic with. Wouldn't that be sublime?" Tulips smiled maliciously. "Depends on what your wares are." "They're exactly what you need. I've been to your lab." Sangue eyed Tulips. She held the glowing gaze before a wicked smile spread onto her face. "Very well. Let's make things difficult, Tulips. And your brothers can do their best to make this empire warm and happy and sweet." She turned to Faithful and Merciful. "Newsflash, this has always been a refuge for the wicked." [columns][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/66097850][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/660979/66097850.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/66097851][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/660979/66097851.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/31186411][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/311865/31186411.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/31036455][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/310365/31036455.png[/img][/url][/columns]

[center][font=book antiqua][size=5]On Painted Wings[/size] "You move so much when you laugh, Jinj. I guess I'll have to stop being so funny." Moti sat behind Jinju, holding a paintbrush carefully between his talons. He made calculated stroke over her wings, making sure to hide her scars beneath the art. "Sorry, sorry. I'll be a better canvas." Jinju turned her head slightly so she could smile at her mate. The dwarf imperial took the opportunity to plant a butterfly soft kiss on the tip of her nose before returning to his work. "Luminara started growing these flowers all over the empire, so I knew it would the perfect thing to paint on you. You're gonna look so beautiful for the Brightshine Ball tonight." "Oh well, only because my husband is a master with a paintbrush." Moti had been painting Jinju's wings since they met. When she was younger, a terrible accident had torn her wings, resulting in a cumulation of nasty scar tissue all over her wings and her losing the ability to fly. It was never a big deal to Moti though. He was content with walking all over with his mate. It took longer to get places, but that simply meant they had more time to be together. Once Moti had finished painting Jinju's wings, she flopped onto her stomach and spread her wings out, so they could dry better. Moti laid on the floor, nose to nose with her. "Are you excited for the Ball?" He asked. Jinju shrugged. "This is the first time we've ever held a big event for an elemental festival. I heard from Reiyn that Amoral had been planning something, but this is really big. A ball for the whole empire to enjoy? Amoral really is a great emperor. You know, it's just a shame that Luminara won't be here to enjoy everything." "She's off training with another clan, right?" "Yeah. I heard she's doing amazingly. Apparently she's learning to be a healer." "Oh. Good for her. It'll be nice to have more warriors to help out. I mean, I love being able to brag that my wife is the strongest dragon in the empire, but I'm sure it'll be nice to have equals." "It will be. Amoral actually used the vault treasure to pay for Luminara, Kulaas, and Andromeda to get trained elsewhere. I heard that they're all learning to fight at the Forbidden Portal. I can't wait 'till they're able to succeed there." Moti raised a brow. "I didn't realize Andromeda was gone too. That must be hard for Adonis; both his wife and his daughter are gone during his festival." "It's his grandmother's festival." "He's still a god of light, just a minor one." Jinju chuckled. "Yeah yeah, I know. But Andromeda and Luminara will likely return before the festivities are over. At least I hope so. The whole council has been in kind of a tizzy, so I think something big is happening." "Oh, maybe Lightweaver is finally casting us off because of our darkness." "That could be plausible. We've had a lot more dragons fall to the darkness. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I mean, most of them are nice enough and if they're not nice, they're useful and invaluable in some way or another." "You know Jinj, at times I feel as though we're not part of a light clan anymore." Jinju tapped her talon on the ground, thinking. "I'd agree with that. We've always been a bit darker than other light clans and the general morality here is a bit skewed. We've also been having children with shadow eyes recently, rather than light. And Reiyn and Mal haven't laid a nest in a while." "And, Amoral had a son who hatched with primal eyes. Shadow primal." "Wasn't that kid hatched about the same time Reiyn and Mal stopped laying nests?" "Yeah, I think so. Do you think Amoral has something to do with the clan's descent into darkness?" "Probably. He's the nicest dragon ever, but he's also a cultist. Making him emperor could have really pushed us over the edge. And since he's returning back to the old ways of this being a home for dragons who don't belong anywhere else, we've gotten a lot of weirdos. Having the empire advertised as something like that brings both the extremely good and the extremely bad. We've got more shade dragons than we know what to do with and Sangue returned the other day. Additionally, Tulips' brothers showed up, but they're nothing like her. They are more religiously devout than Kintsugi." "Oh wow." "Yeah! I feel like the clan no longer has a middle ground. Most dragons here are either devout or in stark opposition of the eleven. I guess it helps that the Council has a fair mix of both, but I fear this could turn into another civil war." "You know what we really oughta do?" "Huh?" "We should branch out. I mean, we claim to be an empire, but our only seat of power is these woods. We should begin making clans in other elemental lands." "That's actually a really good idea. Maybe we can make a case at the next council meeting." "For sure." Moti turned to look out the window at the sky. "Well, my love, it's almost time for the Brightshine Ball. Let's get you into your cloak and we can head out." Jinju hopped up from the ground and smiled. "Sounds lovely." [columns][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/34822367][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/348224/34822367.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/34416910][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/344170/34416910.png[/img][/url][/columns]

[center][font=book antiqua][size=5]Expanding the Empire[/size] Amoral clicked his talon on his desk, deep in thought. Moti and Jinju sat in front of him, with an incredible proposal. "It would be a good move on our part to expand our influence. If we could set up at least a village in every elemental land, our traveling dragons would have places to stop. Additionally, we could expand the items and products we can trade and sell. This is an amazing idea; we just need dragons willing to do it." Jinju bounced in her seat. "We actually already have a lot of volunteers and, according to Kisai, we have plenty of resources to be able to build eleven villages." Amoral raised a brow. "Well, who are these volunteers then?" "For the shadow village, we were actually approached by two veils who take up residence in the Tangled Wood. Their names are Mask and Loviatar. They seem nice enough. They're both a bit intense, but they want to help out. For the light village, Kisai and Adonis were both more than willing to take over there. For the nature village, the spirit Venandari, as well as the demigod, Molli, volunteered. I don't know if you remember her, but Brachiopod Aetius, the one who runs the museum, offered to run the earth village. Moti and I can take over the arcane one. And then we were actually thinking of sending some of our professors out. We somehow came into possession of a bunch of portal mirrors, so our teachers can easily commute." Amoral leaned back in his chair. "Wow. You've really worked hard on this. I'm impressed. I think this is perfectly feasible. We can work on this during Brightshine, as we'll get more income. I appreciate all the work you guys have done." [columns][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/30359218][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/303593/30359218.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/34822367][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/348224/34822367.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/34416910][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/344170/34416910.png[/img][/url][/columns]

[center][font=book antiqua][size=5]Pride Cometh Before the Fall[/size] "Come on Fin! This is gonna be super fun!" Tower swirled all over, antagonizing Fin as he trailed behind her. "I never said it wouldn't, but did you really have to drag me out here in the middle of the night?" Fin shivered slightly in the chill air of the Charged Barrens. Lightning crackled overhead, easily finding places to strike amongst the lightning spires built. "Of course! Couldn't have anyone knowing what we're up to!" Tower stopped suddenly and landed. "I think this place is perfect! No one for miles around!" Ezra ran to catch up with them. He eyed the situation warily. "Mind telling me what we're doing?" "We're summoning the Shade!" Tower exclaimed. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but last time that happened to the Empire, there was a civil war and everything went horribly," Ezra retorted. "That's exactly what happened! We're not gonna possess dragons though, we're gonna unleash it on the Empire and begin destroying it!" Tower sounded so perfectly happy about the plan. Ezra shook his head. "I love you guys, but I don't wanna be here when this blows up. I'm going to go to the Turrets of Goldensparc. Send me a message when it's done, yeah?" "You got it!" Tower waved enthusiastically. Once Ezra was out of sight, she looked out at the emptiness and called Fin over. She pulled out a large tome and the two began the ritual to summon the Shade. It took many hours. Once they got to the end, the ritual called for a vessel to house the Shade. Fin readily volunteered. By the time Ezra was safe in the city, Fin was a vessel for the largest evil in the history of dragonkind and Tower could not have been happier. The rampage was the worst carnage any of the dragons had ever seen. Those who couldn't flee were killed. Luckily, some brave dragons stood against the rampage. Ezra, with the help of Elise, protected all he could. Adonis, using the blessing of his grandmother, shielded those who cared most about. The Shade dragons were particularly useful in protecting the citizens of the Empire. Unfortunately, in the end, the loss to the Empire was immeasurable. Fin himself was killed by the weight of the power. All those who lived had their memories changed and wiped. All, except Adonis. The young god knew what had to be done. He used the guidance of his grandmother, Lightweaver, and dove deeped into the tangled wood, far away from the accursed Rose Woods. Too much misery came from there. He gave every dragon a new name, a new life, and a new way to live. He crafted a society where everyone would finally be able to be happy. No longer would they live under the crushing weight of the hatred of the gods. No longer would they be feared or scorned. As far as anyone had to know, they were just a small village full of warriors, artisans, and mages. Nothing out of the ordinary. [columns][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/68824269][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/688243/68824269.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/61782653][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/617827/61782653.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/65089263][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/650893/65089263.png[/img][/url][nextcol][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/62640011][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/626401/62640011.png[/img][/url][/columns]