claim! :o Story coming soon~ in progress~
Tesai, the youngest scholar of Avrix's small clan, had only wanted to walk the path of the Arcanist, as his father had taught him to. Never, in his most outlandish dreams, had he imagined he would end up in such a dire situation.
Upon hearing Shadowsong's tale, and upon realizing what he must undertake, Tesai thought of two very peculiar dragons he had come across in his series of interviews. They had been nearby, yes, but there was something else that drew them so vividly to mind... It had to be, Tesai decided, the guidance of the Arcanist. Or perhaps, a more worldly part of him whispered, it was simply the effect of an uncanny resemblance between dragons of the same species, for the individual he thought of first was the nocturn called Elof.
Elof was a wanderer, and had been near this very area when Tesai had spoken to him. Even for a nocturn, he had seemed odd and distant, if friendly and forthcoming, when the scholar had spoken to him. But perhaps, Tesai thought, the mere fact that he's a nocturn will grant him some insight. It seemed to give him some heightened memory of events from the previous year; he had given Tesai one of his most valuable and detailed accounts.
But the companion he kept... Uncertainty seized Tesai when he recalled the nocturn's strange fellow. The spiral had kept mostly out of the conversation, hanging back or occasionally twining up over Elof's back to peer unnervingly as Tesai as the scholar asked his questions. Elof had seemed unphased, and Tesai, too, had tried to maintain his composure. But it was clear to him, frighteningly so, that the spiral called Maewynn was Shadetouched. And not just slightly--it was as though her spirit was steeped in the Shade until it was saturated, making the two beings almost indistinguishable.
Still, Tesai thought, perhaps even the Shadetouched female would bring her own unique perspective to the situation. Despite her silence, she had appeared to be listening intently while Tesai and Elof spoke of the nocturns, though at the time Tesai had dismissed it as nothing more than animal-like curiosity.
Tesai set off quickly in the direction he had last known the two strange wanderers to be. His stomach was still achingly empty, but that seemed less important than it had mere hours earlier. For now, Shadowsong's mission was the most important thing that existed in the world--indeed, there might not be a world if he failed. That thought was frightening, but exciting as well--perhaps the influence of the Arcanist, once again, Tesai thought with a tight grin.
It didn't take long to find the nocturn Elof and his Shadetouched companion. Tesai found them, in the early morning, sharing a meal of bobwhite quail and blue cricket beside a small stream. Elof was chatting amicably about the weather; Maewynn was the one to spot the approaching pearlcatcher, and her head rose from her meal.
"Come eat with us, Scholar."
Tesai drew up short, even as Elof looked over his shoulder in surprise. The pearlcatcher shifted uneasily.
"I... didn't come to..."
"Come eat with us," Maewynn repeated patiently, though something in her Plague-red eyes told Tesai that he'd be better off to not refuse. Elof obligingly scooted over, making space for the pearlcatcher.
"What can we do for you?" he asked, but Maewynn hissed quietly before Tesai could reply.
"Let the child eat, Elof. He looks terribly drained." The spiral rested her head on the ground, eyes fixed upward on Tesai. soHide prickling, Tesai tried to gather his nerve.
"I didn't come to eat with you. I came to find you two because I need your help."
"You can't expect to save Sornieth when your stomach is hollow as an old bone, do you?" the spiral asked, her claws working at the ground beneath her. She grinned when Tesai gaped at her. "The Shade knows many things, so I know many things. This business of mimics and rogue Singers doesn't suit the Shade any more than it suits dragonkind, you know. I'll at least hear you out."
Tesai glanced at Elof, who was nodding agreeably. "You two... you knew?" the pearlcatcher asked.
Elof shook his head. "No."
Maewynn snorted, even as Tesai echoed, "No?"
"But we'll at least hear you out," Elof said helpfully.
"Sounds fair, doesn't it?" Maewynn crooned, stretching her neck forward to snap up a cricket. Tesai watched as the small lump traveled down her throat, her tail twitching with satisfaction.
"You look pale," Elof said. "Eat up, if you'd like. There's plenty here."
Though suddenly feeling rather queasy, Tesai bent his head and obeyed. After choking down a few of the crickets, he became aware, once again, of Maewynn's eyes fixed on him.
"So... the Shade told you? About Shadowsong and Thana?"
"Kind of," the spiral replied, but didn't elaborate. Tesai looked to Elof for some sort of explanation, but the nocturn only shrugged.
"I don't know how she knows what she knows. And she didn't tell me anything about this, before you showed up just now."
"If we help you," Maewynn began, tail twitching in the dust as if with a life of its own, "I want you to promise me something."
"What?" Tesai asked, feeling as though an insect leg was caught in his throat.
"I want one of the hatchlings. Doesn't matter which one." Maewynn's twitching became wilder, for a moment, and seemed to consume her whole body. Then she settled, again, to near stillness. "You can tell Shadowsong it died, or it ran away, I don't care. But I want one of the little Singers."
Tesai felt a thrill of horror ravel from the tip of his muzzle to his tail. He looked over at Elof, who was watching calmly.
"What do you want a hatchling for, Mae?"
"I don't," the spiral said. "The Shade does. I don't know why."
Tesai stood, nearly tripping in his haste. "I-I think... I don't... I mean, thank you for hearing my request, but I can't--"
"Now hold on," Elof said, standing to match the pearlcatcher. He was larger than Tesai by a margin, but Tesai fancied himself quicker--wondered if this nocturn would attack him, either by his own initiative or on Maewynn's command. "This is a serious thing, right? To do with the mimics?"
"Sornieth will be destroyed, if Thana isn't stopped..." Tesai whispered, with an uncertain glance at Maewynn. The spiral hadn't risen.
"We'll help," Elof said. He had pulled his mask down, and had an honest look about him. "I'm not sure about fighting, but if there are hatchlings in danger..." He glanced over at Maewynn. "Don't you have any idea what the Shade would want with one of the hatchlings?"
Maewynn shrugged narrow shoulders. "My best guess is that it feels threatened by Thana and the mimics. The Shade rather likes being the most terrifying thing in Sornieth. It may want a Singer hatchling as... insurance. If it could touch a Singer hatchling, it would have as much power to fight the mimics as Shadowsong and her group."
"The Shade wouldn't want to defend Sornieth, though," Tesai said. "Who's to say how it would use the power of a Singer?"
Maewynn fixed him with a baleful glare. "Little Scholar, if the Shade wanted Sornieth destroyed, you would never have been born. I wouldn't be wandering about like a nomad, but leading an army against your gods. If the Shade wanted Sornieth destroyed, it already would be."
Tesai shuddered, then glanced at Elof. The nocturn seemed unbothered by the rhetoric.
"Y-You're okay with this?"
Elof shrugged heavy shoulders. For a moment, Tesai thought he saw the stripes on the nocturn's legs squirm. He said, quietly, "Yes. I agree."
Tesai took a step backwards. A cry to the Arcanist crawled up his throat--the desire to wail his devotion to his god in the face of these Shadetouched creatures. But a weight struck his back before he could speak, and the breath was knocked from his lungs as he hit the dusty ground.
... ... ... (in progress)
Tesai, the youngest scholar of Avrix's small clan, had only wanted to walk the path of the Arcanist, as his father had taught him to. Never, in his most outlandish dreams, had he imagined he would end up in such a dire situation.
Upon hearing Shadowsong's tale, and upon realizing what he must undertake, Tesai thought of two very peculiar dragons he had come across in his series of interviews. They had been nearby, yes, but there was something else that drew them so vividly to mind... It had to be, Tesai decided, the guidance of the Arcanist. Or perhaps, a more worldly part of him whispered, it was simply the effect of an uncanny resemblance between dragons of the same species, for the individual he thought of first was the nocturn called Elof.
Elof was a wanderer, and had been near this very area when Tesai had spoken to him. Even for a nocturn, he had seemed odd and distant, if friendly and forthcoming, when the scholar had spoken to him. But perhaps, Tesai thought, the mere fact that he's a nocturn will grant him some insight. It seemed to give him some heightened memory of events from the previous year; he had given Tesai one of his most valuable and detailed accounts.
But the companion he kept... Uncertainty seized Tesai when he recalled the nocturn's strange fellow. The spiral had kept mostly out of the conversation, hanging back or occasionally twining up over Elof's back to peer unnervingly as Tesai as the scholar asked his questions. Elof had seemed unphased, and Tesai, too, had tried to maintain his composure. But it was clear to him, frighteningly so, that the spiral called Maewynn was Shadetouched. And not just slightly--it was as though her spirit was steeped in the Shade until it was saturated, making the two beings almost indistinguishable.
Still, Tesai thought, perhaps even the Shadetouched female would bring her own unique perspective to the situation. Despite her silence, she had appeared to be listening intently while Tesai and Elof spoke of the nocturns, though at the time Tesai had dismissed it as nothing more than animal-like curiosity.
Tesai set off quickly in the direction he had last known the two strange wanderers to be. His stomach was still achingly empty, but that seemed less important than it had mere hours earlier. For now, Shadowsong's mission was the most important thing that existed in the world--indeed, there might not be a world if he failed. That thought was frightening, but exciting as well--perhaps the influence of the Arcanist, once again, Tesai thought with a tight grin.
---
It didn't take long to find the nocturn Elof and his Shadetouched companion. Tesai found them, in the early morning, sharing a meal of bobwhite quail and blue cricket beside a small stream. Elof was chatting amicably about the weather; Maewynn was the one to spot the approaching pearlcatcher, and her head rose from her meal.
"Come eat with us, Scholar."
Tesai drew up short, even as Elof looked over his shoulder in surprise. The pearlcatcher shifted uneasily.
"I... didn't come to..."
"Come eat with us," Maewynn repeated patiently, though something in her Plague-red eyes told Tesai that he'd be better off to not refuse. Elof obligingly scooted over, making space for the pearlcatcher.
"What can we do for you?" he asked, but Maewynn hissed quietly before Tesai could reply.
"Let the child eat, Elof. He looks terribly drained." The spiral rested her head on the ground, eyes fixed upward on Tesai. soHide prickling, Tesai tried to gather his nerve.
"I didn't come to eat with you. I came to find you two because I need your help."
"You can't expect to save Sornieth when your stomach is hollow as an old bone, do you?" the spiral asked, her claws working at the ground beneath her. She grinned when Tesai gaped at her. "The Shade knows many things, so I know many things. This business of mimics and rogue Singers doesn't suit the Shade any more than it suits dragonkind, you know. I'll at least hear you out."
Tesai glanced at Elof, who was nodding agreeably. "You two... you knew?" the pearlcatcher asked.
Elof shook his head. "No."
Maewynn snorted, even as Tesai echoed, "No?"
"But we'll at least hear you out," Elof said helpfully.
"Sounds fair, doesn't it?" Maewynn crooned, stretching her neck forward to snap up a cricket. Tesai watched as the small lump traveled down her throat, her tail twitching with satisfaction.
"You look pale," Elof said. "Eat up, if you'd like. There's plenty here."
Though suddenly feeling rather queasy, Tesai bent his head and obeyed. After choking down a few of the crickets, he became aware, once again, of Maewynn's eyes fixed on him.
"So... the Shade told you? About Shadowsong and Thana?"
"Kind of," the spiral replied, but didn't elaborate. Tesai looked to Elof for some sort of explanation, but the nocturn only shrugged.
"I don't know how she knows what she knows. And she didn't tell me anything about this, before you showed up just now."
"If we help you," Maewynn began, tail twitching in the dust as if with a life of its own, "I want you to promise me something."
"What?" Tesai asked, feeling as though an insect leg was caught in his throat.
"I want one of the hatchlings. Doesn't matter which one." Maewynn's twitching became wilder, for a moment, and seemed to consume her whole body. Then she settled, again, to near stillness. "You can tell Shadowsong it died, or it ran away, I don't care. But I want one of the little Singers."
Tesai felt a thrill of horror ravel from the tip of his muzzle to his tail. He looked over at Elof, who was watching calmly.
"What do you want a hatchling for, Mae?"
"I don't," the spiral said. "The Shade does. I don't know why."
Tesai stood, nearly tripping in his haste. "I-I think... I don't... I mean, thank you for hearing my request, but I can't--"
"Now hold on," Elof said, standing to match the pearlcatcher. He was larger than Tesai by a margin, but Tesai fancied himself quicker--wondered if this nocturn would attack him, either by his own initiative or on Maewynn's command. "This is a serious thing, right? To do with the mimics?"
"Sornieth will be destroyed, if Thana isn't stopped..." Tesai whispered, with an uncertain glance at Maewynn. The spiral hadn't risen.
"We'll help," Elof said. He had pulled his mask down, and had an honest look about him. "I'm not sure about fighting, but if there are hatchlings in danger..." He glanced over at Maewynn. "Don't you have any idea what the Shade would want with one of the hatchlings?"
Maewynn shrugged narrow shoulders. "My best guess is that it feels threatened by Thana and the mimics. The Shade rather likes being the most terrifying thing in Sornieth. It may want a Singer hatchling as... insurance. If it could touch a Singer hatchling, it would have as much power to fight the mimics as Shadowsong and her group."
"The Shade wouldn't want to defend Sornieth, though," Tesai said. "Who's to say how it would use the power of a Singer?"
Maewynn fixed him with a baleful glare. "Little Scholar, if the Shade wanted Sornieth destroyed, you would never have been born. I wouldn't be wandering about like a nomad, but leading an army against your gods. If the Shade wanted Sornieth destroyed, it already would be."
Tesai shuddered, then glanced at Elof. The nocturn seemed unbothered by the rhetoric.
"Y-You're okay with this?"
Elof shrugged heavy shoulders. For a moment, Tesai thought he saw the stripes on the nocturn's legs squirm. He said, quietly, "Yes. I agree."
Tesai took a step backwards. A cry to the Arcanist crawled up his throat--the desire to wail his devotion to his god in the face of these Shadetouched creatures. But a weight struck his back before he could speak, and the breath was knocked from his lungs as he hit the dusty ground.
... ... ... (in progress)
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Niao~Writer~FR time +1
Apologies if I don't reply in a timely manner I'm so sorry! Please do feel free to prod me gently! :'3 Seeking: Amber/Black/Lemon Shadow Male! |
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