Creative Corner

3 and a half months! That's so soon and exciting!!! :D

I love this story so much, oh my goodness. I can't wait to see what Saerun wants to talk about! A beautifully written chapter, as always!

@Petall

I know! It's been rough, but right now things are going good and I'm so grateful my son has stayed healthy throughout. He's very kicky, lmao.

And thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying it and have been reading so long. c:

[b]Bright Spots[/b] The first thing he was aware of was a dull, flickering light. Veldr didn't know why his heart skipped a beat at the sight of it, even as he opened his eyes and found that he couldn't focus them at all. He tried to raise his head and his vision swam, the light suddenly splitting into dozens of separate points and dancing mockingly around him as he dropped back down. It was all at once far too bright, and his head was pounding. Why couldn't he remember anything? For a brief moment, he wondered if he was hung over - but the moment he tried to stand and felt that same white-hot pain shoot through his entire body, he knew something else was wrong. "Well, [i]what do you know[/i]?" an unfamiliar voice remarked. He couldn't see whoever spoke at all, even as his vision stopped swimming. He could finally tell he was lying facing a lantern in an otherwise fairly dark room. "How are you feeling?" the voice asked, and Veldr tried again to sit up and see who was speaking - only to immediately collapse once more. "I really wouldn't try that right now," the speaker said. "I wasn't sure you'd pull through at all, with how ripped apart you were - let alone the uh, poison." "Wh -" Veldr stammered before vague memories of the previous event began to come to him. He tried again to stand as panic overtook him. "Where's Bell?" "For Keeper's [i]sake[/i], your fae friend's fine! She finally fell asleep not long ago," the voice hissed, clearly exasperated. "She'd been keeping vigil nonstop since I dragged you here, so stop thrashing around before you wake her or make yourself worse!" Veldr settled, his last shred of energy fading away as relief overtook him. "Who are you?" he asked, suddenly aware that even his [i]throat[/i] hurt. He groaned, furrowing his brow and trying to blink his vision into focus. He finally saw a figure approaching from the gloom, revealed to be draconic and mostly purple in colouration as she reached lantern light. She was mostly pearlcatcher-shaped. "My name is Elysium," she said, and he flinched at how suddenly bright green eyes met his own. He heard swirling liquid as she held out what he presumed was a crude clay cup. "Can you hold this, or will you need help?" "You're a nature dragon?" he asked. She just gave him a quizzical look and pushed the cup into his talon. "It'll taste a bit muddy. It's fine though, I boiled it," she shrugged. "Not much fresh water out here." It was more difficult to bring the cup to his mouth than he'd expected - his muscles simply didn't want to work, burning with each slight movement - but Veldr drank it all down. The taste hit him afterward and he shuddered, dragging his tongue against his teeth to try and scrape the residue off. "Yea, I know," Elysium said, sympathy in her tone. "You need it though, you must be horribly dehydrated." Veldr managed a grunt in reply as he set the cup down next to him. He still felt like his skull was about to split. "How long was I out for?" he asked, shutting his eyes to try and manage the pain. "About a day and a half, I think," she replied. "I've only gone to the surface briefly so I'm not positive. We needed most of that time to put you back together though, honestly. You're lucky you weren't awake for that." They were both silent for a few minutes after that, Veldr lying there weakly as he felt the other dragon's eyes on him. After some minutes passed, she spoke again. "...How did you do it, anyway?" "Do what?" he asked thickly, opening his eyes to find Elysium staring with unnerving fascination. "Kill them," she replied, gesturing vaguely as if that was all the elaboration he needed. "What?" "The [i]serthis[/i]!" she said incredulously. "They were all just... dead around you in a ring, and I couldn't see a scratch on any of them. What did you do?" Veldr opened his mouth, let out an uncertain noise, and shut it again. "I... didn't do anything." Elysium now looked just as confused as he felt. "Maybe... something else came by and... killed them?" he suggested, though he knew that was just as ludicrous. "The fae said she could hear serthis talking, and uh, stabbing, and then there was a bright light and it all went silent," Elysium said slowly. "There's no way something else showed up and then ran off before she got there." "I don't know," Veldr said helplessly. "I really don't - that doesn't make sense." "Damn it. I was hoping you knew some way to - I don't know... they've all been acting crazy since the eruptions started. They used to just keep to their territory and warn you away, but now..." Elysium let out a harsh sigh and reached to take his cup. "Don't worry about it for now. I've been picking your brain when you need rest. Just... try to sleep. I need to, too." She stood, setting the cup on a small slab of wood Veldr could just make out before vanishing into the gloom just beyond. ----------- So yea, Veldr's not dead. He's never once fallen in battle. That being said, life without a clan sure can be rough, eh? P.S. meet Elysium, who was kindly donated by my good friend Lu: [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=53158424] [img]https://flightrising.com/rendern/350/531585/53158424_350.png[/img] [/url] @Dovalore, @Valishtu, @Gloomyvibes, @AnimeLover9631, @Akash, @tigressRising, @ArgenteaMoon, @mintSMASH, @StormWendjule, @IronPen, @Solaristigres, @Acuarela, @Rivix, @Keet, @catmeow1, @Sharuna, @owlstar7, @Fallacies, @Cngx, @Arinemera, @Weredogalism, @Kosaa, @astrallis, @ShadewingRising, @Kyaritty, @Chalkolate, @Luteia, @Drachenschwinge, @Kaskade, @InfiniteIrony, @Darunia, @OrderedChaos, @Kaskade, @Viperfishy, @SallyJane, @huskies709, @mmuted, @Pastie, @cybo, @Synchros, @Damindra, @Velvetpaws, @Macrocosm, @Sabariel, @demitri, @PipDragon40, @Dreamcoyote, @casdeth, @Khazraj, @DreamSlayer, @SoftDemon, @Petall, @Borkbean, @dragonstars12q, @Erithuet, @nwn, @SammySepticEye

[b]Packed Up[/b] It was early morning when Ciron rose. At least, he assumed it was based on the amount of dragons milling about. The sky was still a mottled mix of grey and black; if the sun was up, it was completely obscured by ash. He rose and strode out of his tent, quietly making his way toward the bonfire that marked the centre of the encampment. The heavy scent of salt and cooking seafood wafted through the air, both from fish fillets carefully wrapped in seaweed and hanging on a spit above the flames, and a mix of crab and mussels that bubbled away in a large pot. One of the dragons tending to the food noticed his presence and dashed over, quickly pressing a wooden plate stacked with various forms of grilled seaweed into his hand before rushing back to their post by at the fireside. The bordering sea had solved [i]some[/i] of their food problems - he was certainly no longer facing starvation, as unpleasant as he found his dish - but not everyone could survive off what was dredged from the ocean. As he silently ate his breakfast, Ciron watched as two massive dragons made their way over through the gloom, one nudging a much smaller figure along just in front of them. In the firelight, he recognized it as Pox, a skydancer that had recently been brought to the clan. He didn't know the names of the other two - a ridgeback and guardian - but he had often seen them working closely with his father. Once again, one of the dragons tending the fire rushed over to deliver plates - this time heaped with an almost inordinate amount of fish - to them. The ridgeback held up a claw and tutted. "Hey, hey... a plate for the lady, too," he said in a slow, mildly amused sounding drawl. "She'll need her energy for our trip later." The guardian laughed between mouthfuls of fish. Pox didn't react much, avoiding looking at anyone even as a plate was pressed into her hands. She ate silently, and Ciron couldn't tell if she was frightened or seething. The ridgeback abruptly straightened his posture, focused on who Ciron turned to see was Altiel approaching. "Oi boss, we're just about ready to go." "Wings clipped?" Altiel asked simply, nodding toward Pox, who was staring down at the ground. "Yep, tidied them up just today," the ridgeback confirmed with a nod. "Packs loaded too - we're just waiting on provisions." There was some panicked motion by the fire as several of the dragons working there hurried to pull down and pack dried fish and seaweed before Altiel could say anything. The ridgeback smirked. "P-provisions for me, as well," Ciron blurted, hurrying toward the group. "I'll be going as well." "What? You don't even know where we're going, [i]bo[/i]- " the guardian began, only to be cut off by an audible kick from his ridgeback companion. "What Ger means to say is we'd be happy to have the little prince along," the ridgeback said flatly. "Can always use an extra set of claws on a scavenging gig." Altiel was silent for a moment, giving Ciron an appraising look before nodding. "Very well. Put on an extra set of satchels from the supply tent. You should all head out in the next half hour." "Thank you, father," Ciron said, letting out a quiet relieved sigh before turning to face the rest of the group. The ridgeback wore a false smile as he gazed back, and the guardian looked rather grumpy from the whole exchange. Pox had raised her head, and eyed him with something between suspicion and confusion. "Well, go on, highness," the ridgeback urged, jabbing his hooked talon toward a tent off to the right. "Get those bags on and we'll go." ----------------- Alright so here's some more Ciron. And Pox, who does have a dragon: [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=40226925] [img]https://flightrising.com/rendern/350/402270/40226925_350.png[/img] [/url] You may note she's TG and also underleveled - that's because I was incredibly lucky and won her in a raffle! Our new guardian and ridgeback friends don't have dragons in my lair atm... though given how many eggs I've gotten during notn, etc, I [i]could[/i] easily make them real. In a way I kind of want to. I can't help but imagine them talking like Breekon and Hope from The Magnus Archives. But I have so many dragons. So many... Anyway. I have a bad headache but drawing offline wasn't going too well for me, so here's a new chapter. How are y'all doing? I'm very excited for a fancy Valentine's Day dinner that's coming up over here. The last one before my spouse and I are parents!! Crazy. @Dovalore, @Valishtu, @Gloomyvibes, @AnimeLover9631, @Akash, @tigressRising, @ArgenteaMoon, @mintSMASH, @StormWendjule, @IronPen, @Solaristigres, @Acuarela, @Rivix, @Keet, @catmeow1, @Sharuna, @owlstar7, @Fallacies, @Cngx, @Arinemera, @Weredogalism, @Kosaa, @astrallis, @ShadewingRising, @Kyaritty, @Chalkolate, @Luteia, @Drachenschwinge, @Kaskade, @InfiniteIrony, @Darunia, @OrderedChaos, @Kaskade, @Viperfishy, @SallyJane, @huskies709, @mmuted, @Pastie, @cybo, @Synchros, @Damindra, @Velvetpaws, @Macrocosm, @Sabariel, @demitri, @PipDragon40, @Dreamcoyote, @casdeth, @Khazraj, @DreamSlayer, @SoftDemon, @Petall, @Borkbean, @dragonstars12q, @Erithuet, @nwn, @SammySepticEye

Yooo Pox is super pretty! Congrats on the raffle win!
Also best of luck with the baby and wishing you and your spouse a happy Valentines!!<3

@mmuted

Thanks a ton! I hope you have a wonderful 14th too!

No problem, thank you!! Keep up the good work, still loving this locke even though I've not had as much time to comment!

It sounds like there are some big things going on! Elysium seems like an amazing character, by the way, I'm glad that Veldr is in safe hands!

@Petall

We're getting to some more plot stuff I do suppose! I'm really glad I finally get to write Ely in, as well. She's a fun one.

Next chapter will be delayed, possibly for a good while. Dealing with a lot of health issues + unpleasant family stuff.

(My upcoming baby and my husband are just fine though, to be clear. I'll be okay with treatment too.)