"Have any of you seen Dellenger anywhere?" Karma asked, approaching the two rehearsing pearlcatchers. Celia was partway through a musical number, but she stopped as soon as she noticed the approaching spiral.
"Dellenger?" Celia's interest perked.
"We haven't seen him for days. He kinda just disappeared," Starling shrugged.
Karma swore. This was exactly what she had been afraid of. The wildclaw had looked a little too interested when she told him about Jett. It was all too easy to imagine him ensnared by her father's charms, like so many else.
"Thank you anyways," Karma sighed, turning to go. Suddenly, Celia stopped her.
"Wait, I have a question," The pearlcatcher raised a hand, finger extended.
"Yes?" Karma turned around. Had they clued into the fact that their friend was in danger?
"Do you know of anyone who might like to join in the production of a musical?" Celia asked. "I mean, Starling and I can make do on our own, but a two person show isn't exactly as nice as having a full ensemble."
The spiral stared at her, trying to wrap her mind around the question. They were in the middle of a
war right now, who would be able to let their guard down enough to join some sort of a production? What was the purpose of theatre anyways? Karma had gone her whole life not knowing about the performing arts, and the thought of dragons spending so many hours rehearsing and playing make believe instead of doing some useful absolutely baffled her. She bit back a sharp retort, realizing the innocence of the young dragon's query.
"I honestly don't know. This clan has never really had an active theatre community, so who knows who would have an interest in taking part," Karma shook her head. "If you want to put up a flyer in the tavern though, you're welcome to do that. Just don't expect much results."
"Still, it's worth a shot," Starling beamed. "There's so much more I could do with more dragons! Just think, all of the different characters and shapes and movements! It would really bring the flavour of this clan together in a beautiful masterpiece!"
"And if anyone has trouble with the dancing, I'd be happy to teach them!" Celia piped up.
The enthusiasm of the two siblings touched Karma. It had been so long since she had seen anyone with such unadulterated joy. Everyone else had been beaten down by the relentless years of conflict and scraping a living. Perhaps there was a need for this after all. The dragons of the Forgotten Kingdom had lost something. Karma wished she could be that carefree.
"Tell you what, if no one else steps up, you can teach me how to dance. I don't do performances, but I'd be willing to learn the moves," Karma conceded.
Celia's smile told her everything. This was clearly something that meant a lot to her, and it was something worth preserving. Karma hoped that the years wouldn't tarnish their optimism like it had so many already.
Juliette had sent her next round of instructions. The wildclaw had been hiding out back in Windkeep Tower since Jett's takeover endangered her, and Thorburn had been relaying messages ever since. It had been too long since the last order, and Kass had begun to wonder if anything as coming. More and more she found herself wishing she had been hired by Jett himself. I mean sure, the brat annoyed her, but it was far more fun than waiting around being told to keep her hands off everything. Juliette's instructions had changed everything.
It was time for the fun to begin.
Last she heard, Jett had been training the new recruit. It was unusual for the king to take on the training himself, especially if the trainee had not yet been imbued with Shade magic yet, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
She heard the sounds of sparring before she arrived, and she stopped to obverse for a while before making herself known.
"Come on, you can do better than this!" Jett snarled.
"I'm trying!" The wildclaw was out of breath. He looked exhausted. Kass almost felt pity for him, if she didn't know that such rough training would make him stronger.
"Well, try harder!" Jett spat, circling the wildclaw.
Dellenger leaped into the fray again, shooting blasts of shadow magic at the king. With every shot, Jett countered with small blasts of Shade magic, which consumed the shadow magic almost immediately before hitting Jett. The Shade blasts absorbed themselves into Jett's skin, granting him fresh bursts of energy.
The young wildclaw growled in frustration and leaped at the king, trying to use his teeth to bite at his neck. Jett easily dodged, sending Dellenger crashing to the ground. The king moved to stand over him, placing a clawed foot on his neck.
"And now you're dead," Jett smirked. He stepped off of Dellenger, letting him pull himself to his feet again. To the young wildclaw's credit, he got up fairly quickly, though Kass could tell his stamina was swiftly waning.
"Let me try again," Dellenger panted.
"Do you really have what it takes?" Jett taunted. "You know that in the Knowledge District Wilds there is a resistance growing against us? I can use my Shade magic to see everything that the Shade sees, and though its presence is fainter in the depths of the wild, I can still see the forces rising against me. I need a strong army if I am to stomp them out, and you're just going to be a liability if you don't shape up."
"I'll be better, I promise!" Dellenger pleaded.
"You better be," Jett snorted. "Raithyra!" At his call, the flaming banescale stepped into the training ring.
"Yes, your majesty?" Raithyra growled, standing to attention.
"I want you to take over Dellenger's battle training. Once he has mastered that, we'll transfer his magic training to Kobe and Kahlil. He needs to be strong if he's going to withstand the gift," Jett ordered. He turned to Dellenger. "Go, rest and recover. You'll be training with Raithyra at dawn tomorrow."
Once the two dragons were dismissed, he turned and caught sight of Kass.
"How long have you been watching?" He asked.
"For a while," Kass admitted coyly. "I've been wanting to talk to you."
"Oh? About what?" Kass could see by the light in his eyes that she had done a good enough job already of drawing his interest. This task would not be difficult at all, and it would put a serious rift between him and Scoril.
"Can we talk in private?" Kass snaked around him, letting her tail stroke his neck. She could feel his fierce guard melt at her touch.
"Y-yes," Jett stammered, blushing uncharacteristically. He stumbled after Kass until she led him inter her chambers. She shut the door behind him.
"You've been doing a really good job, you know," Kass purred.
"Of what?" Jett asked.
"Ruling everything. It's not an easy job," Kass soothed.
It was like a weight had been taken off of his shoulders. "No, it's not. And I'm scared about how we're going to do against the resistance. Their getting pretty strong."
Kass smiled. She knew he wouldn't be blabbing like this to any dragon. It was unlike the king to openly admit his weaknesses and fears.
"And it can't be easy with your queen dragging you down," Kass murmured, drawing closer.
"What do you mean?" Jett's head snapped up.
"Oh, Scoril is sweet and all, and she certainly is powerful, but she doesn't have the same drive and ambition that you do. You're left doing everything on your own," Kass purred into his ear. "You need a queen who is strong like you, who can match you and hold her own, instead of falling into pieces at any sign of turmoil."
"What are you suggesting?" The question hung in the air, a hopeful look filling his face.
"Oh, I don't know," Kass pulled away. "Do you have anyone in mind?"
Jett stared at her for what seemed like forever. Kass loved this moment, the internal struggle of reading the signals and wondering if she cared for them the way they did for her. The answer was always no, but they didn't need to know that. The ball was in his court, and if all went well, he'd be like putty in her hands.
"You know, I've always admired you," Jett drew himself up, regaining his usual composure. "You seem to know what's going on almost better than I do. You're intelligent and cunning, and I know I can trust you to stand by me no matter what. What do you say that we team up?"
Kass grinned. She had managed to make the whole thing seem like his idea, which was perfect. She had given him the illusion of control.
"Oh, I don't know. What about Scoril? Won't she be hurt?" Kass asked, testing the waters. He had to want this desperately.
"Scoril can deal with it," Jett growled. "She's been my best friend since we were kids, but that doesn't mean that we have to do everything together. She's just been weighing me down, and stopping me from reaching my true power."
"Well, if you insist," Kass sighed. "I guess I'll do it. I'll be your queen."
"Should we seal the deal?" Jett asked, drawing closer, until she could feel his breath on her lips. His talons ran through the feathers on his head.
Kass just grinned and kissed him, feeling him melt as she gave him what he wanted. He did not leave her chambers that night, and when morning arose, three perfect eggs lay in the sheets between them.
The deed had been done. Kass may have given him three new Shade warriors, but she had also made a rift in the king's strongest alliance. Besides, Kass didn't have the same elemental strength as Scoril did, which would give any Shade magic less to feed on than Scoril's offspring. This was the moment she had been waiting for. Now her job had really begun.
I've been waiting to breed Kass and Jett forever, and now the timing is finally right! We are ramping up to the endgame now!
Coli Day #1 was Jett, Lester and Gladdenstone, which was terrifying because Lester and Gladdenstone were both level 1 and Jett was level 7, so we had to go in the Woodland Path. Everyone survived though, and both of them are now level 3!
Coli Day #2 was Friehalt, Kass and Kobe! Friehalt is now level 7, Kass is now level 4, and Kobe is still level 6!
_
_
_
_
