Anzu paused, listening. He could still hear the noise that caught his attention, fainter, but not quite
moving away.
It was a frenetic flapping of wings, like a large bat, or even larger moth. Either of those options could easily be a threat to the diminished clan, if someone happened to startle it or disturb a nest. Or it could be…
No, Rio was just being a superstitious kid, coping with the loss of her family. There weren’t any ghosts here – probably. Especially not the ghost of a dragon Rio had barely even met.
Even though those wingbeats did sound like they belonged to someone of just about the right size-
It was nothing. It was just an animal that had wandered into this large, safe-looking burrow. It didn’t need to be investigated or bothered unless it was a threat.
It was
not a ghost.
The wings crossed the path in darkness, entered the den that still held all of Holmes’ treasures, and quieted.
Anzu
really contemplated investigating. With the unique ways magic flowed down here, and their proximity to the great flow of Life to and from the Behemoth, maybe… maybe…
A shadow darted back out of the den, startling him. It landed briefly in a dark spot, a long tail flicking toward the light. Two huge, orange eyes turned to stare at him.
Anzu stared back.
“VV|-|0 4|23 `/0µ?” the silhouette chittered. “|=|2!3~|) 4|23 `/0µ?”
“Uh.”
“913453 |)0~’7 |-|µ|27 ^^`/ 07|-|3|2 |=|2!3~|).”
Anzu frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying-”
Instead of a response, the creature dove off the path into shadow again. Its fluttering wings echoed slightly as it landed on a lower root nearby.
Anzu crept back up the path, as quietly as he could - which was not terribly quiet, but the moss dampened the sound of his claws, and he could hear more chattering in that language - dialect? - that he felt like he could
almost grasp.
“!’^^ 84(|<, |=|2!3~|) VV!7|-| 081473 |=337. ! VV!11 |)3|=3~|) `/0µ !|= ~3(3554|2`/!”
Turning his lantern off, Anzu moved to a point that was practically on top of the chatter. He crouched, listening for a moment more - then switched on the lantern again.
Two creatures froze in the light. One was a centaur, lying on her side and putting a hand up to shield her face. The other...
The same orange eyes watched him warily, from a face that was hunkered back against the creature’s - dragon’s? - bright purple body. The dragon was crouched protectively up against the centaur, and without needing to turn their head, they noticed the centaur’s discomfort at the light and spread a bright blue, moth-like wing to shade her a little more. The heavy end of their tail thumped nervously against wood.
“...And who are you?” Anzu questioned.
“! 4^^ |24%3|2814`/|)!”
“[Are you asking my name? I don’t... it’s Rhodale. I don’t speak good Draconic.]”
Anzu sighed. He was pretty sure the dragon was speaking some strange form of Draconic, and had said “I am” and presumably their name, but he didn’t speak Centaurish at all. “Hold on. I’m not going to hurt you, R... Razerblayd? You two just stay put for a moment.”
Without waiting for an answer, he trotted up the path. “GALAD?” he yelled. “You down here? I think I could use your help for a moment.”
A few beats later, Galad spiraled down, landing awkwardly right-side-up on the path. “What’s going on? More trouble?”
“I don’t... think so. Maybe? Come here.” Anzu led aur to the centaur and strange moth-dragon. “We have... a couple visitors. You were living near the centaurs for a little while, right? Do you know any of their language?”
“I’m decent at it.” Galad poked aur head over to look, then carefully clambered down. Au paused at the centaur’s reaction. “[It’s fine. I’m a friend. He’s a friend too.]”
Rhodale only relaxed a tiny bit. “[What about the rest of them? Your clan killed my teammates.]”
“[One of the dragons here went rogue. He isn’t in this place right now.]”
“[Is the rest of my herd safe?]”
Galad paused, then relayed the question to Anzu. Anzu shrugged. Galad turned back to Rhodale. “[We don’t know. I’m sorry. We’re stopping him.]”
“Ask her why she’s still here,” Anzu prompted. “And how. It’s been almost a week!”
Rhodale shifted position a little, and winced. “[
I fell when we were fighting. My left fetlock might be broken. I am at your mercy.]” She indicated the fluffy, purple dragon paying rapt attention to the conversation. “[This one has helped me these past few days. I can’t understand a word he says, but he has brought me food, water, and company anyway.]”
Anzu sat back on his haunches. “I see. I’m... sorry. I don’t think... any of us know much about centaurs, except maybe Galad here, but if there’s anything we can do to help...”
“[...Thank you. With the proper supplies I might be able to bind it myself, or guide Galad.]”
“Well, moving her is a bad idea right now,” Galad said, “but we can’t just leave her in the dark again. It must have been terrible.” Au repeated aurself in Centaurish for Rhodale.
“[When this one first appeared to me, I thought I was hallucinating,]” Rhodale replied. “[It would not have been the first since I came here.]”
“What if we had Rio bring some of her glows over?” Galad suggested. “I hear she’d started having some luck getting them to grow into the living rootwood. And then... I don’t know.”
Over the course of the conversation, Sprout had emerged curiously from the pond and slithered over to the action. “I can go get her,” he offered, and flew off to the mushroom cave where Rio spent most of her time.
“I think Neveah has healing magic,” Anzu said. “But she went off after Salt... hopefully they’ll both be back soon.”
“[We’re bringing some light,]” Galad explained. “[We have a healer, but she’s not in right now. As soon as she is, or as soon as you can guide us in helping you, we’ll take care of your injury.]”
“[
I am grateful. Why are you helping me, when our groups are now opposed?]”
“Hopefully, we won’t be opposed for long,” Anzu replied. “Problems came from misunderstandings. I wouldn’t be surprised, nor offended, if your herd never forgives us, just as one of our clan hasn’t forgiven them. But one person, or a few, taking cruel actions doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t be kind.”
Hi.
I have suddenly found myself simply Not Doing the art I'm supposed to have been doing. That's why this post is so late. That's it. That's the only reason. Why haven't I? Have I been busy? Maybe a little. But I think it's mostly just the executive dysfunction. so that's cool. Anyway here's an emblematic of Holmes, which I started ages ago in anticipation of the glut of art pulls that are coming soon:
It's using some of the genes I had planned for her, which were Cherub/Tide/Points! I also have one started for Marbles, which I will use for my next art pull because I really like it, and then I'll start on ones for Rio, Galad, and Razer. Yes, I have that many trinket pulls.
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