Myskana had trained long and hard after her "victory" in the arena to prove that she was the strongest of all Bloodwings. After all, she had screamed that she would be the one in charge after she had killed Diedre. She hadn't wanted any of them to doubt her, so she trained her mind and body to be able to best any one of them, including her father, in a fight. She noticed as she trained, her demonic powers grew, and much like her father and grandfather before her, her power revealed itself in glowing tendrils that wove around her wings and legs. Unlike her "family", though, her power didn't manifest in a gross, burnt yellow, but instead as a bright cyan and red. She vaguely wondered if it was due to her aura, or a difference in morality between herself and those with demon blood before her.
She had vowed in her heart that she would change the legacy of the Bloodwings after the death of her brother, Amorahld, at the hands of Diedre. She wasn't sure how, but she vowed she would. She didn't know how, or even if she could, but she would try. She didn't want anyone else to suffer the way she and her brother had.
Amorahld... her chest squeezed painfully whenever she thought of him. When he had died, she had captured his soul before her father could. There was no way she was going to let the demon consume what was left of the brother she had desperately tried to protect. Sometimes she would call his soul from the depths within herself just to be able to see his face again, but he couldn't speak to her or even be aware of her presence. It pained her. Did she trap him in a void? Was he okay? If only she could just speak to him again.
Myskana had almost lost Amorhald once. There was a price to pay for becoming more and more powerful. Demons had to consume souls of the dead in order to sustain their power and remain strong, and Myskana being half demon was faced with the same limits. Myskana had discovered this when she was losing the ability to call Amorhald's soul forward, but regained the ability when she consumed the souls of animals. However, as she grew stronger and stronger, Animals weren't enough. Eventually she would have to consume other dragon's souls.
Myskana had vowed she wouldn't murder like her parents, so she had to find a “peaceful” way to consume the souls needed to stay powerful. She began to travel across battlefields and graves, consuming the souls that hadn't yet been found by reapers; the spirits tasked with bringing lost souls to the afterlife. She felt terrible for stealing souls from the reapers, but she needed to consume souls to keep her hold over the Bloodwings.
This need brought her to another battlefield yet again today. Myskana needed more souls to keep her demon magic and strength at full tilt. Bodies littered a field of arcane grass that clashed with the edge of the plague domain. It looked like a skirmish between an upstart clan and the natives of the plague domain, as more bodies laid on the arcane side of the border than that of plague. Normally, Myskana would just walk among the fallen and take whichever souls remained, but in the battlefield stood a lone figure, a dark red imperial that was dressed heavily in warish regalia.
Myskana watched as the lone imperial stood sullenly among the dead, a gentle breeze making the fur on his black lion headdress flutter absently in the wind. Judging by the armor and banner he wore, dyed a rich color of red similar to blood and adorned with shining brass, this dragon had to be a warlord, but where were his troops? Had he sent them home, or had they all died in the battle, leaving him as the only survivor?
After a few moments, the Imperial finally moved, taking off his headdress and revealing a tired, young face beneath. He tossed the headdress to the side and began to score the earth with his blade-like gauntlets, digging deep into the dirt. Myskana noticed a slight, glowing fluttering around him as he worked, and began to sense some sort of magic emanating from this dragon as he dug deeper and deeper. Eventually, he came out of his hole and began to pick up his fallen plague brethren, cradling them gently as he set them down into their grave. A glittering tear fell down his snout and into the hole on the Mirror dragon he just set there.
Suddenly, Myskana felt sick to her stomach with guilt over prowling this battlefield for souls. She wondered what horrors this Imperial had faced being a warlord, if his fallen plague-brothers had been more than just troops to him? She watched as he neatly and gently placed all of the fallen warriors in their mass grave before looking towards the sky and taking a deep, shuttery breath. Tears ran down the scales on his neck but his face looked more pensive, rather than twisted with anguish, as if he were somewhat used to this. Myskana’s heart ached for him.
The Imperial finished burying his fallen brothers, patting the earth over them gently before he moved onto the arcane side of the region border, beginning to dig a large grave for the fallen dragons that had called this border their home. Myskana’s eyes widened as she realized how honorable this plague dragon was, and couldn’t help but feel a pull towards him. Eventually she was compelled to step out of her hiding place to help the warlord bury the fallen.
Gently, she began moving the bodies towards where he was digging, and even though it sickened her, she scanned each for souls to consume as she brought each body to their final resting place, consuming what she could find as she carried them and hoping that the other dragon would not notice. She felt the Imperial’s eyes on her, but he hadn’t said anything to her, instead choosing to work along-side her to bury all of the fallen dragons. Eventually, the two of them got the dragons buried and smoothed over the dirt, standing next to the grave in silence.
“So, should I count myself lucky a reaper decided to help me bury the dead, my
compagnon du petit loup?” The Imperial said after a brief moment, his voice having a soft accent.
“I am not a reaper, my
grand compagnon de leo” Myskana said in a soft voice, returning his sentiment.
“So you know the
gaulois tongue,
petit loup,, but if you aren’t a reaper, what are you?” The Imperial asked.
“Half-demon,” Myskana said honestly. “I’m sorry, I mean no harm but I’m trapped by the limits of the blood in my veins.”
“Heh, sometimes I wonder if I am a demon myself,” The Imperial said, sadness tingeing his voice. “With the amount of innocent blood I’ve staind the lands with.”
“If you were, I would be able to tell,” Myskana said, not catching the “joke” at first. “Still, I understand the pain you feel. I wish not to cause pain to innocents, but my bloodline demands otherwise. Though, you could change who you are, why haven’t you done so if you dislike what you do?” Myskana implored.
“I would be labeled a deserter, a traitor,” the Imperial said. “Banned from my birthlands.”
“Do you have dragons you care for there?” Myskana asked softly.
“Yes and no, my brothers in arms are there, but my family is long dead and gone.” The Imperial sighed, the magic that Myskana had sensed earlier flaring up again, dancing around him like small glow-bugs. So it flared with his emotions, Myskana determined.
“Then, I’d say you have little to lose,” Myskana said. “Brothers in arms only go for as long as you can fight in a land like that.”
The Imperial’s magic flared again and Myskana could tell that she had said something wrong.
“My apologies,” She said quickly. “I shouldn’t have said something so harsh.”
“No, no, you’re right… wait.. Can you see
them?” The Imperial said.
“The fireflies?” Myskana asked. “They’re part of your magic, it flairs when you are upset, I’ve noticed.”
“You… you can see my Aura?” The Imperial whispered. “I-I’m not insane??”
Myskana fell silent, and only nodded, making the Imperial sigh out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“I come from a line of blood mages, and their magic usually manifests externally,” the Imperial breathed out. “No one could ever see mine, so I was always said to be delusional, a screw-up, weak blooded. I was pushed to become a warlord, rather than a mage like I had always aspired to be. I always wondered why no one could see my Aura, and if I was just a crazy dragon like they had always said. But you… you can see it.”
“The Demons of my bloodline are attracted to magic such as yours,” Myskana said. “We can see even the slightest traces of it. I think if you had been given a chance, you would have been able to become stronger as a mage, you have the magic in you.”
The two fell into silence again, but it seemed almost as if the Imperial didn’t want their time together to end.
“May I know the name of my
compagnon du petit loup?” He said again after a moment. “I am Ionwen.”
“Myskana,” the skydance replied.
“Myskana, would you be the one to give me the chance to become stronger?” Ionwen asked. “I would like to come with you, to your clan.”
Myskana stiffened. “I strongly advise against that. My clan is one of monsters and demons, we have killed far too many innocents for you to be happy there. And my father and grandfather before me may try to take advantage of you.”
“But you wouldn’t let them, would you?” Ionwen pressed. “Please, my
compagnon du petit loup, I would do anything to leave my current life behind and become a mage and study magic. I want you to help me. You are one of the only dragons to show me kindness such as you have.”
“Ionwen, my clan is not the clan to help you follow your dreams,” Myskana said. “Unless you can help me expunge generations of tainted blood and demons, I can’t help you with your journey to become stronger with magic. I don’t even know if I could help you if I tried.”
“Then we both can try our best,” Ionwen pleaded. “Please, Myskana, at least let me follow you.”
Myskana sighed. “Fine, my
grand compagnon de leo, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”