Fantasy Inactive boe

[Novafire]

Welcome to the Official Blight of Eileynn: Wings of Valor thread.

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[Novafire]

Blight of Eileynn: Wings of Valor​

The Citadel. An amalgamate of different city structures combined into a bustling melting pot kingdom. It extended for miles around in a waxing gibbous shape with a spire-like mountain in the center. Narrow buildings claw their way up the mountain, topping it in a glowing golden palace that reached past the clouds. Below it, large stone pillars carve their way entirely through the mountain’s middle. Surrounding the stoney cavers and towering pillars was a large middle most layer was lush with green foliage. Ancient trees clustered in the center, creating a dark twisting forest. Extending downwards from that the stack like towers continued for miles, creating a narrow labyrinth that descended down into the void. South of the sprawling city a large bay leading to The Silver Seas sparkled in the pale moonlight and city lights above, ships of various sizes lining its harbor.

Short vegetation covered wings tore through the air as two brown and green creatures scaled the walls of the metallic stacked homes of the Lower Stacks. Earth Dragons were masters of scaling the vertical surfaces of the towering heights of Eileynn’s capital, The Citadel. On their back sat two Riders, clad in golden mail with intricate ornate designs. They quickly scoured the area., kicking up dust and rubble as they kicked along the walls. An Orcish mother tossed a basket of rotten gourds towards them as they paused on top of her makeshift clothes rack. Trading obscenities in different tongues, the two dragons left down, gliding with ease to an older looking rail system.

Wheels creaked across the steel rails that strung themselves across the towering stacks. Deigned similarly to the mine carts from the Dwarven Mines of Thjarrmor, these rickety transport service was hardly efficient. What it lacked in speed, it made up for in lack of use during the night. A large steel wagon rolled itself down the tracks, several Citadel Knights portioned towards the front, with two others bringing up the rear. Crawling along the rigid scaffolds beneath were two Earth Dragons and their Riders, escorting the precious cargo inside. Their heavy golden armor suggested their rank, The personal protective Knights of the High Council. High Guards. Slowly making their way across the capital, they paused every so often to check the cargo that lay in the back of the wagon and switch the alignment of the rails. Stopping first at the meeting point between the middle and lower stacks, requiring an escort due to the more nefarious neighborhoods, hence the heavyweight Earth Dragons. When they reached the convergence point of the Middle Stacks and the High Stacks, they paused yet again.

It was just past midnight, the thick forested ring of trees known as the Middle Stack glowed with fireflies and the occasional flock of fae. The Middle Stack Market still had a few tenders open, mostly taverns and inns with the occasional meat pie stand still serving those who wandered in the night. The guards gathered around, checking the surrounding perimeter as the Earth Dragons settled in the streets.

One of the Riders motioned his way back towards the railways, the other nodding in agreement as the cargo’s dragon escort departed quickly, the earth dragons quickly leaping away into the Stacks. The remaining guards huddled close, bickering about who was picking up supper for the group.

“Aye Leon, I know you took the last watch for the last two nights, but that don’t mean you can’t grab the pies! I’ll even throw an extra copper in for ye!” One of the Dwarven Knights grunted out, offering up the dented rust colored coin to the short human called Leon. Leon let out a long groan, snatching the copper and trudging over to the meat pie shack. The dwarf let out a heart laugh “Thas a good boy there! And don’t forget the potatoes!” he shouted after the dejected guard. Checking the cargo one last time before ascending up into the High Stacks, the Dwarf guard clamoring into the back of the cart. His stubby hands carefully lifted the insulated crated that lined its walls. Each delicately secured cares held a large egg, around the site of a large moon melon. The Dwarf Knight dutifully checked each and every box, counting a total of twenty boxes. Twenty eggs. The cart screeched as it began to roll up the rails yet again, only a few guards left as the cargo learned its final destination.

The gilded archways of the Citadel Knight headquarters looked in the distance, only a sea of towering stone and steel stacks rising around it stood in the delivery’s way. The soft golden glow of the Sky Stacks above illuminated the rooftops of the High Stacks, this portion of the capital unusually quiet for this time of night.

It was not uncommon for those in the High Stacks and Sky Stacks to throw lavish parties that rolled well into the early morning hours. But tonight, an eerie calm settled upon The Citadel. Faint orange light lined the railway, small oil lamps fixated beneath the track, illuminating the underside of the slow moving transport.

The cargo ascended higher and higher, suspending above the taller Stacks towards the center. The rails began to creak loudly as the cart crest the top, the guard’s careful steps along the sides causing the steel to sway. The shipping rails had always been less than taken care of no matter the layer, the High Council cutting coin cost where the could. However the rails were still used daily, lugging supplies in an out of the various layers nonstop throughout the day. A narrow suspension bridge strung between the towers that supported the base of the Sky Stack swayed precariously as a gust of wind rushed through the narrows. From the opposite side of the bridge, movement in the shadows cast from the bridge.

One of the guards waved for everyone to stop, jogging forward with a few heavy grunts. His armor clanked loudly like a hammer against an anvil; echoing down to the Lower Stacks far below. He almost tripped as he made it to the mid point across, another gale sweeping through.

“Who’s there!” he called out in a gravel laden voice that went unanswered. The bridge swayed back and forth again and again, the guard bracing against one of the tendrils of wire that weathered itself to the nearest Stack. He squint his eyes through the slits in his helmet, his vision partially obscured.

All was quiet as the swaying of the bridge ceased, the guard removing his golden helmet to glean a better look. With nothing to see in front of him, he turned back to the cart and gave the ok signal. “Bring ‘er forward before the winds pick up again lads!” he bellowed, the metal wheels squealing loudly, rolling forward with a lurch.

Walking it along the rail, the Guard cautiously trudged forward, their eyes trained on the path forward. It wouldn’t be long to the Citadel Knight’s gilded halls now.
From behind, three consecutive blasts rocked the bridge, followed by a barrage of smaller explosions against the stacks surrounding the suspended platform. Metal wiring snapped and lashed wildly as the bridge began to sag. The guards scrambled to stabilize the cart, it’s heavy weight carrying it backwards several feet. Above them, a row of grey hooded figures stood along the rooftop overlooking the bridge

“Look alive Lads! We can’t let ‘em have the cargo! Deugur! Quit yer damn whimpering’ and blow the damn horn for Odinsake!” The Dwarven Knight grunted, bracing his shoulder against the back of the cart and holding it steady while the others drew their swords. Deugur presumably scrambled to pull the horn from his waist to his lips, never getting the chance as an arrow seated itself into his neck. Blue blood spewed fourth from the wound as he pulled it out, his words drowning in a gurgle of foam. Letting out an anguished cry, The Dwarven Knight released his hold on the cart and letting it continue to sink back slowly.

Reaching to his chest, he pulled a thick runestone, the Dwarf staggering as three more blasts stripped more of the suspension wires from their seats. The rails groaned with stress now, the sound of tearing metal screeching through their air. Smoke and the distinct smell of brimstone choked the surrounding area. Crushing the rune in his hand, a bright orange energy filled his body for a moment before lashing outwards in the shape of a great flaming bird. The figures standing above did not falter, the center most figure in white robes raising his hand up as the bird connected with his palm. A white light filled the area as the flaming bird disintegrated upon contact, turning to little more than dust in the wind.

The Dwarf Knight took a step back, eyes widening as his comrades stood there; equally stunned. The white robed figure lowered his hand towards the remaining Knights and the cart. “Get Down!” The Dwarf howled, diving to the rails as… nothing happened. The confused Knights looked at each other from their fetal positions in surprise, raising their eyes up to the white robed man. “Heh! Whats tha matter lad? Havin’ trouble?” he chuckled out, the mystery figure above still holding his hand out. The bridge groaned loudly, a loud snapping noise sounding from the top wires, thick as trees finally pulling loose. They crashed through the remaining scaffold propping the two ends up, the damaged metal crumpling in on itself. The cart tipped sideways, cargo supplies spilling out the thick canvas top. With a crash, the rails came tumbling down and with it, the crates encasing Dragon eggs of various kinds toppled downwards into the depths of the stacks.

 

[PhantomSamurai]

Uta wandered the around the ghost town that was the dark stacks he had finished his training for the day so he decided to patrol the area he lived. He wasnt really expecting anything to happend his patrols were more of a way keep himself busy. This place really was a dump decaying buildings and structures all over, but this was where he made his home so it kinda grew on him. He made his way through various alleys and streets keeping his eyes peeled for anything unusual, though he knew it would be boring just like every other patrol he did as no one ever bothered to come down here.

He suddenly stops thinking he has heard something but brushes it off, but he hears the noise again this time he stops and listens closely. It sounded like something clacking gently across the ground as if something was rolling along the streets, he puts his hand on one of the two swords he carried. He was not sure if it was anything but he was prepared just in case, his grip tightened on the handle of the sword as the sound grew closer and louder. "HELLO?!?! is someone there?" He shouts but getting no answer, "I must warn you I am armed and fully prepared to defend myself" he shouts again towards the direction of the sound drawing on of his swords.

He steadied himself preparing for whatever or whoever would show up in just a few moments as the sound got louder and nearer. Suddenly the thing making all the noise came into view it wasnt a person, but instead an object that was rolling towards him. He chuckled sheathing his sword as the object came to stop a few feet away from him, he looked at the object trying to determine what it could be but to do that he would have to get closer.

He decided to proceed with caution taking careful slow steps towards the object, upon reaching It he realized immediately what it was. "Is that a...no it cant be...but it is.." he mutters to himself realizing the object in front of him was none other than a dragons egg one of the most precious items in the entire kingdom one that was usually kept under lock and key. so what the hell is one doing all way down here, he thinks to himself staring at the red and black egg laying on the ground before him, he reaches a hand partway put towards the egg before suddenly snapping it back.

"No no no, I cant touch it, not mine I'm not a citadel guard I need to get someone official down here to take it back to where it belongs I mean they must be looking for this" he says out loud not wondering who he should get. But then again even if they are looking for it no way they could tell if it came all the way down to the dark stacks, also if they did come looking they wouldnt find me I'm pretty good at hiding, he thinks to himself wrestling with his conscious about what the best course of action would be. He started to lean towards finding someone to take the egg back where it belonged, that is until he looked at the large egg again for some reason he felt drawn to it almost like it was calling to him, but that's crazy right? Eggs cant call out.

He decided to say screw it and reached both hands out and gently picked the egg up immediately he felt it the heat the whole thing was hot enough to cause his scaled hands to sweat. Holding the egg just cemented further the notion that the egg seemed to be calling to him like he was meant to find it after all why else would a random egg just happen to show up in the one place he hung out. He made up his mind that he was going to keep and hatch the egg, with his mind made up he shoved the mobile furnace into his robe and made off for Daevars home cause he just had to show him what he found. Once he arrived he set his swords outside and let himself in and.sat down at his table putting his feet up.

 

[Boondox]

Neira

The night was quiet, sitting upon her perch outside the citadel she knelt on one knee, her fair skin seemed to dance with the moon's eerie rays of light. Trying to keep herself occupied he stood up from her position an began moving along the Citadel wall, her wandering eyes casting down to the other area's that the citadel over looked. A steady stride pushed her onward as her mind trailed off into her thoughts, a layer of thick clouds seemed to lay over the moon as its rays faded from her lightly freckled face. Raising her gaze to the sky, something didn't seem right. Neira had been notified of a cargo being transported by her fellow knights but it was getting fairly late an none had turned up yet. In the distance, the sound of crashing metal could be heard but Neira figured it was just the wind playing tricks on her.

For a peace of mind, Neira removed herself from the Citadel wall an inside the building. Her armour light, yet durable enough for combat clattered lightly as she walked through the quiet halls. Entering the main council room she was greeted by three hooded figures who stood from their large table as she entered. Bowing on one knee she cleared her throat before speaking "I am worried for my brothers and sisters returning the cargo, I fear something may have happened to them" She paused for a moment to stand tall "I would like to go and investigate their returning route" The three hooded figures talked amongst themselves for a moment before turning to her once more, a deep toned voice rang out to her "Go, report back with your findings" As she was dismissed, Neira took off at a speedy walk, after exiting the room an the door closing behind her she took off at a sprint, barging through the main doors and out into the night. A fellow Citadel guard was walking through the courtyard as she came barrelling through. He grunted an shook his head as she dispersed into the night.

Finally she found the problem, a bridge had been broken but how? Neira squinted her eyes, trying to see across the gap but seeing no one she huffed an took a step toward the ledge, glancing down before she began to carefully pick her way down the steep slope. What seemed like ages was only mere minutes as she reached a solid surface in the belly of the gorge. It was dark and eerily cold as she glanced around "Hello? is anyone out there?" Stumbling around in the dark she gasped as she tripped over something very cold and hard. Grunting she sat up, only to be faced with a large egg. its outer shell a deep blue with marks that looked like cracks, which were a very light pearly white color. Drawn to its beauty she picked it up, cradling it carefully "Well how did you manage to end up way down here?" The egg almost grew colder with her touch. Neira wandered a few more moments before beginning her journey back towards the citadel, but not before she made a pit stop at home to hide her findings. Neira knew a dragon's egg was sacred but what if the citadel wasn't exactly up to any good with it? she needed to be sure the egg was going to be safe before returning it to the citadel.. and what if there were more out there? Was that the cargo her comrades had been bringing back with them?​

 

[One Mean Ghost]

Ki'Tavi

It was a lovely night.

Well, those in the Lower Stack could assume it was a lovely night, anyway. The thick smog that blanketed the Industrial District, as it most often did, obscured the starry sky such that only the light of the moon could cut through.

Down here, night didn't mean a decrease in activity, more like the types of activity shifted. Instead of work, now the various people that called this health hazard home now allowed themselves leisurely pleasures like gambling, drinking and, well, more lascivious affairs. Money gained during the day was oft lost before the next sunrise. If nothing else, though, it provided a welcome respite from the doldrums of life.

One particular establishment was quite lively this night. The Soggy Bottom was a popular locale for those eager fools looking to part with their daily wage, and this night was no exception.

In one corner, a lanky human sat at a piano that had seen better days. The frame was cracked, several of the ivory keys had been replaced with whatever was found laying around, and the pedals were old push broom heads that had lost their bristles. Yet still, this starving artist tickled the keys and brought a small amount of culture to the place, even if the pleasant music was oft drowned out by the general din of patrons chatting, cussing, and discussing various subjects. Still, some patrons would drop a coin into the little jar that sat on the piano, feeding his starving belly like the music filled his starving heart. If he was lucky, a particularly soused patron would buy him a drink, or a meal.

Fortune, it seems, favored the artist this night as a cloaked figure made his way inside. A few patrons looked up, laughing when they recognized the familiar ragged cloak of The Soggy Bottom's most recognized regular. With deft precision, he flicked his wrist and a few coins landed squarely in the barkeep's outstretched hand.

"A White Elven as per usual, then?" Samwise called, tucking the coins in his pocket even though he already knew the answer. This particular patron had a preference, and particular tastes. A little coffee liquor, a good dose of cream, and two gratuitous shots of vodka were mixed over ice in a stein and sent sliding to the patron's outstretched hand as he reached the bar. Without breaking stride, he took his first swig, nodding approvingly as he made his way to one of the many poker tables strewn haphazardly about the room.

He had his favorite seat, a particularly sturdy mahogany chair with perhaps the only cushion in the place that hadn't needed a patch yet. The current occupant, seeing the approaching cloaked figure, quickly slid one seat over to make room, flashing the figure a five toothed grin.

"Thanks for keeping my seat warm, Archie. Let's hope Lady Luck rewards your consideration" The figure purred, pulling back his hood before addressing the man at the Piano. "Play us a song Piano Man!" He called with a hearty laugh. The Bestias known as Ki'Tavi was something of a Legend here, and his reception showed it as the man at the piano started up a song that he'd learned when he wore a younger man's clothes. Kit had uncanny luck, such that he always left with more than he came in with, but no one had ever been able to figure out his trick. Since he'd never been caught cheating, no one could ever complain about losses.

Amber eyes scanned the table and his other gamblers. In addition to Archie, who had an incurable gambling addiction, there were five others in various levels of attire. One dwarf looked like he'd just got out of a mine, but on the other end were a couple of elves who were likely only in the Lower Stacks for the sake of gambling. Archie was the only regular at this table, likely because no other regular wanted to tempt fickle Fate against Fate's chosen son.

This particular game of Two Card Poker, at least here, pitted the players against each other and the House. The house, however, never placed wagers, and only existed as an extra hurdle to bring in coin for the establishment. The benefit, and the big draw, was this meant the odds of winning here were comparatively higher than other establishments. In parlors where you competed purely against the House, the odds were always in the House's favor by hook or by crook, and you'dbe tossed out if your streak was too good. Sure, there were places to only compete against other guests, but those places tended to draw a rougher crowd.

On this night, Ki'Tavi's famous luck continued. Sure, he lost some hands to the house, but at the end of the night, Kit had near tripled his money, and Archie, by some fortune, had doubled his.

However, Kit's luck seemed to have run dry, as he lost three straight hands to the house.

"Well, that's the end of my luck, it seems. So I'll call it a night here" Ki'Tavi purred as he finished off his drink. The Piano Man sat up a little straighter, trying not to make it obvious he was watching the cat as he stood to leave. When Kit moved towards the door, his shoulders started to sag. No doubt he'd been hoping Kit, who had sat fairly close to the Piano, would have offered a tip.

The musician jumped at the melodious sound of coins in his jar. Five gold pieces!? Could he be seeing right?! Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked after the cat, who simply waved over his shoulder as he made his exit. It was all he could do to mouth a 'thank you' before he began a new song with a soaring heart.

What could he say? Kit appreciated some nice music while he basically robbed hapless fools blind. Sure, he called it bad luck, but really, he thought of it as the House Tax. He'd lose a few games and feed the House some of his winnings just so they'd permit him to keep coming in. He even spread the "luck" around to those that earned his favor, like Archie. The whole time, it hadn't been a matter of luck. He'd known who would win every hand before it was dealt because he controlled the cards that were seen.

Illusion Magic was great that way~

As the cool air hit his fur, he stretched his arms over his head. Not a bad night of gambling, and it was still relatively young. Midnight was half past, but the hustle and bustle down here in the Gambling Quarter hadn't slowed down.

As he contemplated where to take himself next, his ears suddenly perked up, hearing a strange sound. It was a thud that was almost... metallic? Puzzled, he turned his head towards the opposite rooftops as he spied something rolling along the rooftop.

His eyes widened as a grin spread over his features. That iridescent sparkle from the lamplights; the curious oblong shape; that particular sound it made as it bumped along... It could only mean one thing!

A Dragon Egg!

And judging by the size, Kit surmised, it wasn't one of the paltry pets promoted by the pretentious persons with power. No, this was an egg that'd grow into the decorated mount of a Citadel Knight! One of those on the Black Market would easily net him a small fortune! Suddenly, the impressive sum he'd won gambling seemed a mere pittance. His tail swayed excitedly behind him as he tore down the streets after his prize.

He needed to get to the rooftops, and fast! Spying a crate set out against a wall ahead, he used it as a springboard to vault onto the roof.

"Come to Uncle Ki'Tavi now~" he purred, tearing off after it. His amber gaze stayed trained on the egg as it turned end over end down the gently sloped rooftops of the Lower Stacks. Without warning, it started rolling off the roof, bouncing off a canopy for a vendor before rolling down a roof on the opposite side.

"Clever girl..." Ki'Tavi muttered, watching amazed as the egg somehow stayed out of the public eye and yet continued on its tumultuous trek. Following after it, he bounced off the same canopy, flipping once through the air before landing gracefully on the opposite side.

"Now where did it-" he cut himself off as he saw the egg rising on some crane. His tail dropped. "How in the holy fuck?..." he swore aloud, shaking his head as he resumed his chase. This egg was absolutely testing the limits of luck.

From that crane, it somehow rolled perfectly onto some scaffolding, slid down a chute, and the devil only knows what else it did before luck seemed to run out. As it came to rest on a plank of wood, a worker sat on the other end, launching the egg into the air and most certainly towards a scrambled splat on the hard ground some thirty feet below.

Kit, running along a nearby roof, launched himself to the air, his whole body extending with feline grace as his outstretched claws reached for the oblong object of his desires.

Hot. Definitely Hot.

Kit managed to get his paws around it, contracting his body to flip through the air before he landed, rolling several times in the ground before coming to a stop with the egg clutched to his chest, somehow not scrambled.

Panting to catch his breath, Ki'Tavi finally took a moment to appreciate what he had acquired. The iridescent scales of the egg were strikingly beautiful, catching the moonlight in a stunning display.

"Man... you sure made me work to get you.. let's just hope whatever's inside didn't get scrambled with all that rolling around..." he mused. Wait... hadn't the egg been hot to the touch?

Curiously, he pressed his cheek to the shell. It was warm, but not nearly the same heat he'd felt when he first touched it. Peculiar, but then again, he knew little about dragons, so he just wrote it off as a peculiarity.

"Shame my fence isn't going to be awake for a few more hours... guess that means I'm taking you home for now" Kit murmured, grateful this particular area was devoid of foot traffic unlike the Gambling Sector. Still, he tucked the egg into his backpack so it wouldn't be seen, adjusting his cloak so it covered the hump on his back.

For now, he'd just head for home. He could take the egg to his fence and see how much he'd get for it in the morning. For now, a bath and a nap were on the menu. The rest could wait until then.

Or so he thought...

 

[Simple_Traveler]

"You half-breed shit stain!"
BAM!
Daevar let out a grunt as he was heave kicked in the stomach, sending young man stumbling into a wooden divider that made up the borders of the fighting ring. His opponent, a yellow skinned and very pissed off Orc, stood in front him furiously wiping blood that was pouring out of an obviously broken nose. The two fighters were currently duking it out in the basement of a seedy bar, the Crying Wench, located in the Lower Stacks. Drunken spectators bellowed wildly, bodies practically pressed into the grimy, blood stained wooden borders, cheering or booing as Daevar straightened up from his previously slumped position. He took a deep breath of stale, foul smelling air before glancing down at the purple bruise forming on his abdomen.
'Not worth wasting magic on,'
A sudden yell snatched Daevar's attention and he barely side stepped out of the way of a ham sized fist. The top half of the wood border exploded into splinters that sent several patrons scrambling away. Not missing a beat Daevar sent a hard punch of his own into the Orc's unprotected side. A lungful of air wheezed out of the brute's mouth but he still managed send a haymaker Daevar's way that the hybrid managed blocked with his arm. For a minute the two pushed against eachother in an attempt to gain higher ground but in the end the Orc's superior strength won out. The next thing Daevar knew his arm was thrown to the side, sending him off balance, before his opponent cupped his hands and brought both of them crashing onto the young man's head in a savage blow.
Daevar collasped, ears ringing and skull throbbing ,face first into the dirt floor. Dazed, the young man could collect himself long enough to roll out of the way as the Orc planted his booted foot on his back. With a leering, bloodied grin the Orc bent over growled into Daevar's ear.
"All it'll take for me to kill ya' is to stomp on your neck, but I think I'll watch ya' squirm in the dirt for a bit. Fitin' for a puny whorson like yourself."
If his face wasn't kissing the floor Daevar would've sent the bastard a vemous glare. Instead he settled for driving the back of his head into the Orc's face. There was a sickening crunch as the brute screamed and stumbled away while clutching his face. Now with out the extra weight on his back Daevar charged onto his feet and swiped out with his leg at the Orc's right knee. Another sickening crunch was heard as the Orc fell to the ground, leg now bent at an unnatural angle and turning all sorts of nasty looking colors. The audience went ballistic, bellowing and booing as Daevar stared down at his opponent who was wailing at his injuries. With his face a perfect mask of calm Daevar delivered a powerful ax-kick down onto the Orc's face. The wailing dies away as the brute is knocked unconscious.
The crowd grows nuts at this development, screaming insults and slurs at the hybrid who just took down someone twice his size. Daevar pays them no mind, such words having lost their sting long ago, as he strodes over to the wood border and hauls himself over it in a signle, fluid motion. Despite their anger the audience wisely gives him a wide berth as he makes his way over to the bookie. Silently, Daevar holds out his hand and watches impassively as the oily haired man hands him a bag full of coins while whispering several curses to himself. The hybrid grabs the bag, tying it to his cloth belt, before walking up the stairs and out the bar. His work for today is done, with any luck the coins will last a few days before he has to go back into the ring.
It took him a few hours to reach the Dark Stacks where his home, really just an abandoned building with a few odd and ends to make it more comfortable. Daevar was half a mile from his home he encountered something strange. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something glimmer. His cobolt blue eyes zeroed in on it. Hm, either he was concussed and seeing things or that was a white dragon egg laying in a rotting old produce stand...
Then whatever support the egg had been laying on collapsed which caused it to roll onto the ground. It stopped against Daevar's foot a second later. He continued staring at it as two choices popped into his mind. Now the smart, pragmatic choice would be to find a Citadel Knight and bring them the egg...but then again the Citadel Knights could eat shit and die for all he cared...
While the hybrid got his thoughts in order the egg continued to glow innocently in the dark, and Daevar could have sworn it was glowing brighter than it was a few seconds ago.
"Bah, to hell with it," Daevar grumbled as he hoisted the egg into his arms. Someone needed to protect it and what where the odds that the Citadel Knights would comb the Dark Stacks, of all places, for it?

 

[Turtelini]

At the docks, only a few hours in the night are silent. People work long hours, go drinking with strangers and gamble their money away in questionable establishments. When the last drunk stumbles home, they'll most likely already meet the first workers awake. The docks are the busiest place you can find in the city, and wasted time is wasted money. Wherever you go, you will be surrounded by screaming, shouting, commanding, laughing, crying and sometimes even fighting. Loading ships up and clearing their storages, carrying cargo around and caring for ships, this is the biggest business in the Lower Stacks … and Grenga was just one of the thousand little gears making this machine work flawlessly.


And, just as anyone else, she also deserves some time off. The prospect of having to see her parents tonight is not really something Grenga was looking out for … they always want her to join their storytelling circle, but she really just wanted to lie down and doze off. That's the reason why she sat here, in between two larger ships slowly rocking in the sea. Grenga was big, but her feet still couldn't reach the sea, not even with stretching them dangerously far down from the wooden planks. Not that she wanted to swim, no. For a matter of fact, she actually never even learned to swim, despite living right at the sea. No, she wanted to feel something different than ground.


The sea is so vast, it seems like it had no end. Every single day dozens of ships took off or came back, and everyone on board has experienced something else on their journeys. They have experienced freedom, and Grenga was jealous. She was tied here, by her family, her work, and well her only friends. Without them she would be nothing … to some extent, literally. Life is short here in the Lower Stacks without any connections.


Enough sulking around, Grenga should get her butt back home, no matter how annoying it could end up listening to the same old boring stories again. Maybe Granny has some new details she somehow remembered this time and will forget the next time. She stood up and stretched, flexing her muscle packed body. And from one moment to the other, she was freezing cold and drenched in water.


"What the -" Before Grenga could even react, another wave of salt water hit her face and filled her water. Surprised and unprepared, she accidentally swallowed some of it. Retching and coughing took over her, before she felt a soft push from behind.


Red-faced and pissed off, Grenga turned around and faced - an egg? What the hell?


The few words Grenga spared daily have failed her, and she just stared at the levitating egg in front of her with an open mouth. Water dripped down her body, collecting in a pool underneath her and then continuing their little travel down through the cracks in the wood. A new droplet formed at the tip of a hair hanging in front of Grenga's eyes, but instead of falling down … it fell up? Her eyes followed this anomaly wide open, and she realized a lot more water flew up. It pooled into a ball of water, just splashing happily around in the air.


Looking back down at the egg, Grenga sensed some kind of sensation in her body … it was an emotion that she didn't actually feel at the moment, it was more of a … memory of that emotion. A memory that wasn't her own, but … the eggs? Grenga had a hard time understanding what happens, but she somehow knew that the egg was happy. The next feeling the egg sent her was even stronger - excitement.


And in a blink of an eye, a small air torrent surrounded Grenga and blew her dry from all sides. It was hard to stand still, as the wind was actually stronger than usual. This was like nothing Grenga ever experienced. When the wind died down, the egg was gone.


Panic took over, and Grenga didn't know why. She had to find the egg. And before she could even turn around and look for it in the docks, it flew right past her eyes. "Wait for me!" Grenga cried, and started running after her egg. Wait no, it's not her egg, just SOME kind of egg. Right? Something inside her screamed IT'S YOURS, while her own voice of reason bashed at a door inside her head and demanded that she should GO HOME. But Grenga just couldn't, her instinct took over and she chased the flying egg. Ridiculous.


Apparently her screaming has alerted the Knight Guard, as she ran right into two of them and knocked them right over. Nothing but an Orc could have handled her weight at this speed.


Grunting beneath her, the Knight barked at her. "You are arrested for stealing property of the Knights Guard!" Property? What the hell is he talking about? Before she could think further, two other guards grabbed her from behind and lifted her to her feet. She now could see that her (wait no, just the! Not hers!) egg was captured under a fishnet. It fought to get free, flew into every direction, let objects fly at the guards, but nothing helped. At the very edges of the net, multiple stones were attached, all glowing with magic. This must prevent her egg from just removing the net!


But before Grenga could think any further, a sound shook her whole body, and suddenly the night got pitchblack in front of her eyes.

 

[Simple_Traveler]

Pearly white egg held securely in one arm Daevar used his other to throw open the ancient rug hanging from a curtain rod that served as his home's "door". The hybrid couldn't help but sigh in relief as he lumbered into the only livable room in place. Finally Daevar could relax, maybe prepare a late dinner and then throw himself into his hammock to rest for atleast 10 hours....
And then all thoughts of kicking back died in a fire when the hybrid found Uta sitting on one of his floor cushions with his feet on the rickety old coffee table. Daevar's face was still impassive as he stared at the closest thing he considered a friend. The only sign that he was surprised at this impromptu visit was a raised eyebrow.
"....What are you doing in my house?" he grumped adjusting his hold on the Dragon Egg. He wasn't worried about the Scaleite seeing it, for all his faults Daevar knew he could trust him. And then he noticed another Dragon Egg, this time it was colored red and black. This revelation only made Daevar's eyebrow hike up higher.
PhantomSamurai

 

[Letai]

Elkie

| Location: |Middle Stack
Field and Forest
| With: | Rock
| Mentions: |

The Middle Stack looked incredibly stunning at night, with rows apon rows or lush greenery that glowed in the light of woodlings eyes as they walked through the fields. Certain plants bloomed only under moonlight making them a hidden beauty during the day. Slight winds rustled the through the night. Thick, tall trees shield the noise and pollution from other stacks, making it utterly peaceful. As if it was in a world of its own.

"YAH, you ridiculous pixies. GET BACK HERE."
{Peacefulness: 0 Elkie: 1}

The tranquillity was disrupted by a soft, giggling voice trying to yell. Wind passed through again, as if the trees were actively sighing.

Elkie loved playing with the pixies, and she was very tolerable of them, more so than her father, but she did not have the infinite stamina needed to always be chasing after them. She had little feet and she was sure the pixies used that to their advantage. Even though she was overwhelming tired after the long day, she still enjoyed the spark of fun the pixies made her feel. In the excitement of the chase, Elkie's eye lit up and she began to spot the pixies flitting in and out of trees, teasing and taunting her. I should get paid more for this. Oh wait I don't get paid for this. She made it into the cluster of trees the pixies were hiding in, probably to ambush her. She took a deep breath, and braced herself before being attacked by ticklish pixies. She immediately sunk to her knees and sweet spiels of laughter sprung from her lips. She waved her arms around, trying to brush of the tiny troublemakers. They all let out high-pitched squeals before surrendering. Finally.

"Come on, let us get back to Father," but the menaces had other ideas.

They proceeded to grab hold of Elkie's clothing in the opposite direction. She gave up and the pixies beckoned her to follow them, before flying away. Sighing, before picking up into a slight sprint, weaving in and out of trees. Sleep-deprived and exhausted from those damn pixies, Elkie was not at her most perceptive and not very aware. It didn't take long for her clumsiness to kick in. OR trip in.

She was jolted awake and jolted forward, with a short screech, and sent hurtling towards the ground. After taking a significant tumble, she was left quite dazed her head spinning in circles. She opened her eyes to way too many pixies, all morphed together and spinning. She blinked her eyes a few more times and the pixies started to return to the appropriate amount. Thank the trees, I don't need to look after more.

Pain had started to blossom from her right leg and Elkie spotted a fresh little wound, only just bleeding. She was alright, the wound would heal and fresh wood would take the damaged skins place. Moving to examine the culprit of her fall. She spotted a large, smooth rock covered in thick moss and sprouting small flowers. It was about the size of the melons they grew in a neighbouring field. You made me fall, you will now be leader of my rock collection. She was unsure if she would be able to pick up the rock but as she lifted it was surprising lighter, less dense than she thought. Still it would take longer to get back to Father.

On touching it, Elikie felt a sparks blossom up all over her body. She dismissed those feelings blaming it on the pixies.
Grunting as she pick the rock, which was surprisingly warm, she placed it in her harvest bag. Thankfully the pixies seem to be content in following, whispering and giggling to themselves.

code by RI.a

 

[Soviet Panda]

Bryn had been scrubbing out the furnace again, muttering 'sweet' nothings directed towards the High Elf inspector that liked to harass him so much with surprise inspections. The worst part of these inspections was that they would come at the end of the day, when things were the most disarrayed. But nothing quite compared to having a solid metal ball crash through ones roof. Now not only did he have more of a mess to clean up, but he had to pay someone to repair the roof and pray it didn't rain until those repairs were finished. So that left him staring at the sphere of unknown metal.

Ome, who at his age refused to leave the forge unless absolutely necessary, stared intently at the ball that had been moved to an anvil by gloved hands and so far defied every hammer Bryn had smacked it with. The ringing it made was like nothing he had ever heard before, keeping the metal a mystery. Perhaps if he asked his father.... No, he would not rely on him, he would learn if he had someone else doing everything for him.

"Oh, oh ho ho, I know what'll do it. Amplify rune with the sledge hammer. That'll do it. Split the damn thing in half, let me see how it's made. Perhaps it's an alloy of some sort?" He continued his musings as he grabbed the amplify stamp and his largest hammer from their spots on the wall. "Ome, hold it steady. I'm going to get a good swing at it," he commanded his fire dragon assistant as he climbed on a small stool, giving him a better angle with which to swing. Ome, for his part, lazily wrapped his tail around the orb to keep it from rolling around.

With a shower of magical, blue sparks and a thunderous boom, Bryn was knocked off the stool. Scrambling to his feet, he looks at the slightly smoking, bot otherwise unharmed, orb. "Ancestors curse you! And the gods curse you!" He shouted pointlessly at the stubborn metal. "Alright, guess we're going to have to do it this way." Taking off his gloves, he picks up the 'shatter' rune stamp. It would completely destroy the sphere, but at this point he simply wanted to find out what it was made of. But as soon as his hand touched it, the metal sphere began to heat up. And had Bryn been paying attention, he would have seen a new light ignite in Ome's eyes. But quite frankly, he was worried about the orb that was rapidly rising temperature, thinking that the 'shatter' rune was working it's magic.

 

[IDKnuggets]

Laughter filled The Dragon's Tail Tavern that night, as it did the night before and the night before that. Tonight, they had been laughing as a drunken Citadel Knight lifted himself from the floor time after time. With another swing from the redheaded barman, the Knight was sent sprawling once more. When he didn’t rise, two of his companions swooped in to drag the poor fool off.

With the unruly patron taken care of, Wayne returned to his place behind the bar and his waiting customers. He served a young woman her ale with a cheerful smile and a wink, causing her face to turn red as she paid and retreated to her table where her friends greeted her with a laugh. The tavern was a wild place, and Wayne loved every bit of it.

Of course, that didn’t stop him from taking the risk of flirting with the owner's daughter at every opportunity.

“You're looking enchantin' as always, Evelyn" he greeted her with a grin, the girl faring no better than the last had as her face turned beet red. She had known him for two years now, but she still wasn’t immune to his charm.

“Thank you Mister MacGarry, but I don’t believe I look anything special” the young barmaid eyed the floor, not meeting his gaze.

“That's crazy talk, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve had the pleasure to know" Wayne insisted, a genuine smile gracing his face and causing Evelyn to become flustered. With another thank you, she scurried off to calm herself and get to work.

Flirting his way through the next few hours, Wayne made it to the end of his work day without another fight. Sitting for a drink before he would head home, he shot Evelyn a wide grin. Red in the fave and weak in the legs, the poor girl served him a mug of Dragon's Brew. The drink was both the tavern's specialty and the favored drink of the redheaded man that worked the place.

Swinging his head back to take a swig, he was in for a surprise as instead of the Dragon's Tail's signature ale Wayne felt the hard shell of an egg against his lips. The slight tingle of electricity ran across his lips, and when he opened one eye he found a dragon egg in his face and a stunned Evelyn gawking at him.

It seemed clear where how the egg had ended up in his mug, as Wayne sat just beneath a large hole in the tavern ceiling. The hole had been caused a week before, when a wasted Orc had thrown a chair through it. However, the odds that it would have fallen through that hole, and directly into his mug, were baffling. Particularly for the poor young barmaid that could only stare.

“Well, ain't that a treat" and with that, he set the egg aside and downed his drink in one swift swig as a shocked Evelyn continued to gape at the unbothered barman and the odds-defying egg.

 

[DuchessBecca]

Trina quickly jogged away from the large extravagant house of the high stack. She finished counting the gold in the small pouch she had been given. She let a smirk spread across her face as she gave the pouch a jingle and shoved it into her hip pouch. "Another job, another pay day. Time to get out of this treacherous place."

Trina looked glanced around before stepping off into an small innocuous alley. At the end of the alley way Trina spotted the crack in the natural rock wall of the stack. She crouched down and squeezed her way through the crack which led down into a tunnel that timed had carved through the rock. The tunnel was extremely dark and Trina could barely see her hand in front of her face. She moved quickly though with the familiarity that came from having traveled the path many times before.

After descending the tunnel for a while she could see a faint blue grow from around an outcropping of rocks off the side of the tunnel. Trina knew that there should be no reason for anyone else to be here as not many people knew about these tunnels. She cautiously approached the source of the glow trying to be careful not to make too much noise. As she grew closer she could see the light start to gently pulse stronger. When she finally walked around the outcropping she could see that the light was coming from a light blue egg. Looking at the egg its shades of blue almost seemed to ripple along the surface.

She stooped a low and her hand gently reached out to caress the edge of the egg. As her hand made contact with the egg she could feel an energy emanating from the egg and the pulsing light of the egg seemed to calm back to a steady light. The energy felt strange and Trina didn't know what the feeling could be but deep down it felt right. She gently picked up the egg and just gazed into its odd exterior for several moments.

Trina could swear it looked like one of the dragon eggs she had seen when she had been around the Citadel Knights long ago but, what would something so precious be doing here. She considered what she could do with the egg but there were not many people that she trusted around here. She decided that for now it would be best to take the egg with her to keep it safe. She gently placed the egg in her backpack and slung it back over her shoulders and continuing through the tunnel back towards the lower stack where her small hovel was located.

 

[Novafire]

QOXO

Deep within the Southern market of the Middle Stack in a dusty old tavern, a crowd of various races gathered around a makeshift pit in the floor. It was here that many from the various layers of the Stacks came to watch and bet on creature fights. Sometimes it was only an Orcish gerbil race or a Cockitrice fight, but every so often some Dwarf managed to get their hands on something good. The fights had been relatively tame throughout the night so far at this establishment, this however didn’t seem to bother the various patrons. A thick cloud of pinkish smoke lingered in the rafters, spewing from the back corners where a group of Woodlings were blowing rings and images out above the rest of the tavern. Mead sloshed the the floor as the crowd roared and hollered, coins and gems being tossed into a large brass drum that was pulled along by a trio of green and teal Pixies.

“Last Call for the pot!” the smaller of the pixies called out, whipping up into the air with a twist, pulling out a small parchment from her robe. Many of the tavern’s occupants quickly began dumping the remainders of their pockets into the cauldron, one clearly drunken human stuffed a half a loaf of bread in as his bet. The pixies accepted it.

Seated amongst a group of brother Orcs was a bored looking pale skinned Wyx with long spiraled horns. Her face was lined with crimson rune markings that were obscured by her black and maroon hair that fell past her shoulders. The young Wyx was quiet compared to the majority of the pit’s occupants, counting her coins one by one absentmindedly into a small satchel at her side. She tossed a handful of silver coins into the pot once it circled around to her table, making her final addition to the drawing at the end of the night. It had been a long day searching for Wyrmsroot and Fae dust deep within the reaches of the Middle Stacks’ darkened forests. Her hands were stained with star berry juice, her clothes stinking of various fungi and pungent herbs. The Wyx sighed and leaned back into her seat as her Orcish company ordered another round. Her black and crimson eyes watched as two small cages were brought out by some rather rugged looking Dwarves with beards that trailed down to the wooden floors. These guys looked like they came with something interesting. Her ears twitched upwards, her curiosity peaked finally as the sheets covering the cages were removed.

Inside the cages were writhing, screeching, insectoid creatures, their snapping pincer like jaws like knives sliding against each other. The Wyx’s hand quickly shot up with a small coin purse laden with gold. She loved this things. They always put on a good show. “75 on the green one!” she called out, tossing it to the Pixie that quickly fluttered over to collect the bet. Fluttering back to a large black tally board, they scribbled the symbols of the Wyx’s name into the section for her chosen Armored Centipede.

“Qoxo: 75 gold pieces!” The Pixie called out, the orcs sitting beside her raising their gold as well. The tavern exploding into bets on all sides. Pocket purses and coins tossed around the room, various pixies scribbling down the many bets and betters. Everyone’s drinks were filled up to the brim, a roasted hog being chucked onto the table Qoxo shared with the Orcs. Tearing chucks of juicy meat off with their hands they offered some to their new found Wyx gambling friend. Happily taking a handful of flesh for herself she took a bite and sat back, hoping not too many ended up betting with her and her friends. So far, most seemed to be betting on the larger red one, as opposed to the smaller quicker green centipede. A light tap on her shoulder made her turn her head.

A tall Woodling towered over her, a small teacup in hand with steaming water filled almost to the brim. Qoxo gratefully accepted the hot water from the noticeably elder Woodling server, moss and lichen coating his body in thick pale green foliage. She gave him a pointed smile and a handful of coppers in return. Turning back to face the pit, Qoxo dipped her hand down into the breast of her shirt, pulling out a teabag packed with various herbs and fungi. Dipping it into the tea and let it begin to soak, the water turned a delightful shade of warm amber in a mater of seconds. Her bright crimson irises fixated on the board, watching the odds get tallied. She was in luck, Most everyone ended up betting against her, save for her table and a few Moor Elves across the room.

The Dwarves began to position the cages away from each other, the thrashing insects inside tearing at the cage bars to get at one another. Their scythe like jaws snapped wildly, trying to take off the hands of the two dwarves as they held the release points of the cages. The announcer Pixie swooped to the center of the pit, fluttering just below the smoke line. “Bets are placed!” she screeched, waving his hands as the crowd hushed down to a whisper. All that could be heard was the furious screeching of the pincers against metal.

“Match begin!” The announcer Pixie called, the two Dwarves pulling the pins and leaping backwards as quickly as they could. The cages fell apart with a loud clatter, sending dust up as the Armored Centipedes scattered around the pit, looking for a way out. The curved and slick inner linings prevented any escape, the two bright shelled creatures quickly turning on each other.

The hall erupted loudly as the two plated beasts coiled around each other, their legs squirming wildly as the writhing ball of insects rolled around the ring. Qoxo sat forward, watching intently as the match carried on. The larger red one seemed to have the upper hand, his body completely encasing his opponent. However, Qoxo kept her eyes trained on the fight. You could practically hear the sound of the smaller centipede’s plating begins crushed under the pressure of the red. She took a slow sip of her tea, tapping her foot anxiously as it seemed she had lost her coin. The crowd roared with delight as the favorite seemed to be winning, premature celebrations filling the room.

The red Armored Centipede despite its larger size couldn’t seem to fully crush the smaller centipede he had coiled against, unable to deliver a finishing blow due to its elongated pincers. Then, an earsplitting screech as green blood spewed out of the pit onto one of the Orc’s beside Qoxo. Two small green pincers popped out the back of red centipede’s armor plating. It chewed it’s way slowly forward, the red centipede screeching and convulsing as the green centipede burst forth. The red one dropped to the ground as the green began to eat his opponent.

Qoxo’s eyes raised in surprise, her Orc companions leaping from their seats in victory. Pork flying everywhere as they pulled the Wyx into their arms, they squeezed her tightly covering Qoxo in centipede blood. So tightly the young Wyx could barely breathe; all the air forced from her lungs. The Pixies dropped their winnings on the table, Qoxo pocketing nearly 300 coin for herself. Suk, the largest and darkest of the three insisted on Qoxo taking home the pig’s head. His brothers Huk and Duk vehemently agreeing.

“No no, really just this is enough, it’ll take me a whole week to get through it!” Qoxo countered, much to the despair of Suk and Huk and Duk. Her ears folding down in embarrassment, she offered them instead a small scroll, with a map to her hut in case they ever needed any elixirs, herbs, or potions. The brothers scribbled their own location, in case she ever needed three gigantic Orcs. Finishing her tea, Qoxo quickly stashed away her winnings and gathered herself. Bidding farewell to her new friends the young Wyx grasped her white ash staff in her hand. Its beads clinked against the old wood as she pushed through the crowd towards the exit.

The Announcer Pixie’s voice picked up, rising above the crowd once more, “The final drawing winner has been picked! Everyone gather round!”

Qoxo continued towards the exit, shaking her head softly. She’d already gotten lucky with that fight earlier, her chances of winning the pot tonight were slim.

“Qoxo! Lucky night!” the announcer called, the Wyx’s eyes widening in surprise. “Sack or Credit?”

Her ears dropped low as she slowly turned to face the crowd, some of whom narrowed their eyes suspiciously. “Oh no…” she muttered, pushing her way up front, “S-sack. Damn it…”. Quickly grabbing the winnings sans loaf of bread. without another word she hurriedly made her way out of the tavern and into the Southern Market street.

She heard the tavern doors open and close a few seconds after her, footsteps echoing not far behind. Qoxo bit her lip. She didn’t even drink that kind of tea tonight! These winnings were fair! Ducking her head as she turned the corner of the street that led to the forest paths. Here, there were many large holes that dropped down to the Lower stacks, like large steam vents. Various streams fed down into them as well, flushing the large gutters that shot all the way down to the base in some areas. One had to be careful navigating the twisting labyrinth of trees and holes that littered the land of this area

The footsteps behind her grew faster as she broke out into a run, moving to dash around a tree as an arrow whizzed past her face. Freezing in place, she turned around slowly with a scowl. A group of humans approached. “C’mon Hellspawn. Give it up. You know you cheated. We’ve seen you before in the Lower Stacks.” the human with the bow called out, motioning for her to drop her winnings. “Go on, drop it.”

Qoxo narrowed her eyes and snorted, “This is pure shit…” she muttered under her breath moving to drop the sack. She was outnumbered five to one here. There wasn’t much use in trying to fight with an arrow pointed at your face. One of the humans walked up and snatched the sack away, opening it up quickly to catch a glimpse of their prize.

“Thanks Hellspawn, I didn’t think your kind could thi-“ the man with the bow started, before a loud crash sounded. A medium sized crate dropped down from the sky with enough force to flatten the human against the ground, blood spraying against the trees. Qoxo’s eyes widened as a large egg rolled out from the now shattered box, black as night. The man with the bow’s friends stood there shocked and confused, looking at each other with dumbfounded expressions.

Taking this opportunity, Qoxo quickly whipped out her staff, striking it down upon the head of the nearest of the humans. His face split open with the impact, the Wyx shoving the blunt tip of the staff into his chest sending him back into his friends. With a swift movement, she scooped up the sack for herself and fixed it to her belt. One of the bigger humans lurched forward, wielding a club. he swung it wildly towards her, obviously drunk as his aim was severely affected. Movement along the path distracted her momentarily. The egg rolled its way downwards, seemingly swathed in a thick shadow. Qoxo felt the club make contact with her head, a crack forming in her left horn where the weapon made contact. Reeling back, Qoxo bared her teeth and struck her staff across the ground like a match sending a burst of fire up into the face of her attacker. Screeching in pain, the human clutched his face; staggering backwards and running into one of his friends. Knocking his friend and himself down into one of the various pits, plummeting deep into the stacks below. Their screams faded quickly into the night.

The last remaining human turned to run, tripping against the still rolling egg, falling back into a second pit. Qoxo stood there silently, the human whom she had split open lay in a crumpled heap on the ground. What in the hell was that? Her eyes fixated on the egg as it began teetering on the edge of the hole. “Wait… hold on wait!” she called out to it as it tipped over the edge.

Panic filled her as she dove forward, attempting to catch it; instead dropping down into the sky with it. The egg was a few seconds ahead of her, soaring downwards at an incredible rate. Grasping her staff tightly to herself and closed her eyes, the crimson runes that were etched across her body began to glow as a black void opened up in front of her. In an instant she was spit out below the egg, still tumbling down at terminal velocity.

Spying the rapidly approaching streets of the Lower Stacks she braced herself, not even having time to question what she was about to do. She could feel her mana waning rapidly as she opened yet another portal beneath her, this time opening a second right on top of where she had entered; sending herself rocketing upwards and into the egg.

The second she made contact the world seemed too slow to a stop. Everything silent and bathed in the moonlit haze. Stopped there in midair, arms cradling the large black egg. It’s surface seemed to swallow the light around it, a thick black smoke drifting around it. A faint crimson haze pulsed from the center, a steady heartbeat. And though this egg seemed to swallow all the light around it, Qoxo felt nothing but warmth.

Time seemingly sped up again, only a moment having passed as Qoxo lurched to the side and used her tail to wrap around an errant pole jutting from the side of a stack. Panting, the young Wyx shook her head back and forth, looking down at the Egg she clutched to her side. Dangling by her tail, she reached into the breast of her shirt yet again, finding a second teabag. Clearly labeled as non magical.

“I mixed up the tea…”

 

[PhantomSamurai]

Uta looked up at Daevar "jesus man you look like shit...still doing the fights huh?" He says look from his face down to his hands noticing the egg. "No shit you found one too?" He asks becoming more intrigued with the situation, if Daevar also had one then that means this wasn't some freak thing something must have happened to the newest shipment of eggs that were supposed to come in today. He sets his egg carefully on the rickety coffee table the egg was still very hot he actually believed it would set the table on fire.

The situation was now clear to him these eggs were from the shipment which meant the citadel would be on high alert and every guard in the damn place would descend on every level of stacks searching for the missing eggs. "Daevar this is a very precarious situation we find ourselves in, now I dont plan on giving up this egg to anyone I dont know how you feel but we will most likely have a serious run in with guards over these" Uta says explaining the situation. He liked Daevar considered him a friend as for some reason the half orc actually choose to hang around with him, Uta trusted him which was not something he did all willy nilly.

He looked at his egg then at Daevars, then back at his "so we could end up in a brawl with guards so my next question is...are you in?" He asks his friend slightly smiling.

 

[Turtelini]

"Get in there, you stinkin' orc thief!" An older knight growled at her, as they shoved Grenga's still unconscious body into a cell. The landing was hard, uncontrolled and will definitely leave some bruises. While she lied there like a sack of potatoes, they locked her cell door and took care of her egg. It was still inside the magic net, fighting with all the power it had - but to no avail. The egg got locked into a smaller cage as well, and the net was simply thrown over it for protection. When the guards saw that it couldn't do anything about it, they left the room quickly.

Some time has passed before Grenga could open her eyes. At first she was only met with darkness, and fear took over her. Has she lost her ability to see?! This shock released a wave of adrenaline in her body, starting as a hole in her gut and spreading into all her limbs. She sat up straight looking around in panic, before she saw a tiny window letting some moonlight shimmer down into the cell. Relief took over and Grenga breathed out. Relax, everything is fine.

Except, it's not. How in the hell had so much happened in so little time? She really just wanted to completate about her life, and now she is locked somewhere, without anyone knowing about it. That's when she realized something crucial. She is alone. Like, not "Oh my friends aren't here" alone, no. She is "No one knows my position, including myself, and no one will be able to find it out" lonely. Wait, maybe she shouldn't jump to conclusions this early.

Grenga stood up, and with her calm coming back and the adrenaline dying down, her body started to hurt. Especially her head was full of pulsating pain, those bastards. As if she would have even tried to resist against the guard. Well, it doesn't matter anymore, she is here now and has to get out somehow.

That's when she started to take in more of her surroundings, and noticed the egg on the other side of the room. It seemed to have stopped its struggle, it lied there on the ground, seemingly defeated.

"Well, it seems we are in the same position here … egg." Grenga mumbled into its direction. Suddenly a name popped up in her mind: Felavon.

Did … did the egg, or well, Felavon, just give me it's name? An answer came straight up into Grenga's mind. Yes, it's the dragons name.

"Wait you are a dragon egg?" THAT is a game changer. Grenga has only seen dragons from far away, if the smog would even give her a chance to see further than the rooftops. It always seemed more like a story, something you would tell children when they can't sleep, even when Grenga has seen some from afar. But knowing that one of those mysterious and powerful beings was right in front of her, still in their egg?

A feeling of impatience washed over Grenga.

"I, uh, I - okay, I think I understand?" Her interpretation was "Get us out of here!", but she wasn't entirely sure how to form a single mix of emotions into a whole statement. Another emotion-wave of accomplishment seemed to tell her that she got it right.

"Well, fine. Let me think for a moment." Grenga walked circles in her cell, trying to take in as many details as possible. Sounds easier than it actually is, as Grenga's eyes aren't the best. As soon as she thought about that, the cell got brighter. A guard must have walked in with a torch! She turned around, expecting a knight ready to take her to wherever they take thieves - but there was only a torch, levitating in the air without a guard holding it.

Her eyes immediately jumped to Felavon, who floated inside their cage peacefully. Grenga wasn't alone, they both were in here against their will. Nodding into Felavon's direction, Grenga turned around again and inspected her cell again.

"By the gods…" Escaped her mouth. The floor was covered in bones in various lengths and forms.

This escape might turn out harder than expected.

 

[One Mean Ghost]

Ki'Tavi

An explosion shattered the tranquil silence of the moonlit night. Kit fell forward, barely catching himself before his nose kissed the wretched ground.

With a flourish, he threw back his cloak and took off his backpack, even as his ears rang from the close proximity of the deafening boom. His eyes widened in shock as he beheld the tattered remains of his satchel. It had been made of a thick leather, rather expensive(had he paid for it), able to handle transporting blades, jewelry, or whatever else Kit got his paws on, yet here it was, looking like a pincushion with iridescent scales poking out of it from all sides.

Had the egg been a trap?

Perhaps that's what it was. Someone had set a trap for the Phantom Thief, knowing a dragon egg would surely draw his attention. Not that he was surprised. For years, he'd carried out various heists, pilfering purloined packages with perfect precision, and generally been a thorn in the side of nearly everyone with disposable income. He'd never left a trace, and he'd inspired numerous copycats. Unlike Ki'Tavi, though, the copycats quickly got caught. Fortunately for these imitators, they were quickly exonerated of all but the crime they were caught doing when Kit committed another heist. It had reached a point where the Phantom Thief was used as a Boogeyman to convince children to put their toys away, lest they be stolen in the night.

Yes, it had probably been a trap. Still, it was rare for his discerning eye to be deceived. Fortunately, the trap wasn't as well designed as the exterior. Otherwise it might have killed him.

His tail flicked behind him, his ears flattening as a sense of curiosity gripped him. He didn't know what compelled him, but he opened the remains of his satchel to a pair shimmering, iridescent eyes staring into his own.

He stood, stunned, as he realized he was staring into the eyes of a baby dragon. From tip of its head to its tail tip, it measured about the length of his forearm, though it seemed so much smaller. Every subtle movement the creature made caused its faintly luminous scales to appear a different color, giving it a wonderous appearance the likes of which Kit had never seen before. Every inch of the lovely girl had various markings that glowed brighter than the rest, even on the thin membrane of her wings.

Wait... how did he know this dragon was female? He couldn't explain it. Something in the way it moved? No, he just... knew...

A trill came from the little creature, snapping Kit's mind back to reality. Wait, did it just ask for his name? No, that didn't make sense. That sound it made hadn't been Common, or any language Kit knew, so how could he have understood it so clearly?

"...Ki'Tavi.." he finally answered, his tail flicking behind him as his unblinking gaze fixated on the tiny creature as it clambered out of his bag to climb up his arm. Tiny claws gripped his fur gingerly as the girl made its way to his shoulder.

She chirped as she watched him, and like before, Kit just... understood. From what he'd gleaned from rumors, Dragons and their Riders do communicate on some level. However, from what he'd heard, it was more like sharing a feeling, or sharing emotions that, well, could easily be misconstrued.

This was different.

It wasn't just sharing a feeling, though he could still feel the Dragon's excitement to meet him. It was deeper than that. He understood what the Dragon tried to say as clearly and effortlessly as if it were Common.

"Nishati... is that your name?"

A happy squeak answered as the Dragon's tail wagged like an excited puppy. It started chirping like a lovestruck lark, squeaks and whistles mixing into what probably sounded like a lover's spat between birds.

"Hold on Nisha slow down" Kit held up a finger, using the nickname Nishati had suggested at the start before she'd started her excited exposition. She'd said he was her Rider, that she was so happy she found him, that she thought his fur was the softest ever, that she was an Energy Dragon...

Trying to keep up with the stream of consciousness was a touch difficult. Without warning, Nisha nuzzled his raised finger, chirping happily.

It was later said that Ki'Tavi's small heart grew three sizes that day. At least, that's how Nisha recalls it. Although that is a complete exaggeration, she did succeed in melting his heart. Any thought of selling her to his fence was now completely gone.

A smile crossed his lips as he petted the little dragon with a fingertip. He'd never considered for a moment being a Rider or having a dragon, but it seemed to him like that decision had already been made for him when Fate dropped Nisha in his lap.

That raised more questions, though. The Citadel Knights carefully guarded Dragon Eggs. Their convoys were always so shrouded in secrecy even Kit's information network never knew when they were going to move. Not that he'd push his luck and try to steal an egg anyway, but that was besides the point. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that the Knights would probably be out looking for the missing eggs soon.

They'd probably want to recover this egg and any others before the sun rose. The last thing the Knights would want is for word to get out that Dragon Eggs were missing. It'd be a massive shot to their image, after all.

An earsplitting roar sounded in the distance, followed by another, and a third. He could faintly make out the shapes of two earth dragons climbing over buildings heading towards him as well as a fire dragon flying over them.

Now, Ki'Tavi realized, being in a vacant part of the Lower Stacks was a bad idea. He had no crowds to blend into, no safe places to hide... He pressed his back to a wall, taking a breath as he felt his mana wash over him like a gentle rain.

"Etac suf'bo"

The Earth Dragons leaped down into the ring of buildings where Kit found himself. During the day, this circle, along with the non-functioning fountain in the middle with the slightly murky brown water, would be a nice spot to take a seat and relax during the day. At night, the faulty lighting made it a place more utilized for shady deals. Notably, none of the surrounding buildings had windows or doors facing the circle, meaning that there were never witnesses to the dirty deeds done dirt cheap.

"There's nothing here!" A gruff, dwarven rider astride one of the Earth Dragons grunted as he looked around for any sign of Dragon or Thief. Even though several times his gaze passed right over Ki'Tavi as well as the Dragon on his shoulder, he couldn't see them.

"My magic has effectively erased our presence. They can't see us, hear us, smell us or anything. As long as they don't touch us... we're safe. Just don't move." Ki'Tavi murmured. Nisha chirped quietly, holding still as a statue as the two watched three dragons mull about the area.

"This doesn't make sense. All three of our dragons felt an egg hatch, and yet now they can't even pick up a scent?!" A muscular human spoke irritably from astride the Fire Dragon. Little did he know, his dragon's tail flicked within inches of Ki'Tavi's nose.

Fate, it seemed, was still siding with her favorite son. Still, seconds seemed like hours as the dragons mulled about. At one point, he could have reached out and touched one of the Earth Dragons, it had come so close to breaking his spell...

"I wonder if our Dragons weren't having a bit of fun at our expense, Bifur..." one dwarf said to the other. "Maybe, Oin... but for all three of our Dragons to pick up on it?" His comrade replied with a furrowed brow.

"We should just chalk this up as a false alarm. Let's investigate the other hatchings for now. We can always circle back lat-..." the human trailed off as he stared at the ground. He slid off his dragon and knelt down, picking up an iridescent scale.

"It was definitely here" the human informed the dwarves as he held up the scale from Nisha's exploded shell. Kit cursed under his breath. He hadn't thought to gather up any scales that broke through his bag...

"With a shell like that, must've been an Energy Dragon" Bifur quipped as he stroked his beard contemplatively. "The Council won't be happy if that one isn't found before the baby dragon scent wears off, Cale" Oin agreed scratching his currently beardless chin.

"Unfortunately, it's not here now. It's probably long gone, given we can't even pick up a scent.." Cale the human muttered. His dragon gave an apologetic growl even as he stroked its snout. "It's alright Firenz, it's not your fault the Lower Stacks are an affront to the senses. For now, let's check the other hatchings. We'll be better off if we don't come back empty handed after losing this trail" Cale called as he hopped back on his Dragon's back. The Fire Dragon took to the sky and flew off down the Stacks with the Earth Dragons right behind it on the rooftops.

Kit exhaled, releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding. "For now, Nisha, I'll keep your scent suppressed and keep you invisible to everyone else." Ki'Tavi murmured as his spell released. Once more, Kit was visible, but Nisha was not.

Nisha chirped curiously, tilting her head inquisitively.

"I specialize in Illusion Magic. I'm particularly gifted at avoiding detection." Kit explained to his shoulder companion. "I can only obscure so much at a time when I'm moving, though so you'll have to keep your voice quiet. Don't worry, my ears are very good, I'll hear you even if you whisper" Kit patted Nisha's head, quickly directing his feet back towards the Gambling Quarter.

Fortunately, the trio from before didn't double back, and Kit was able to make it back to The Soggy Bottom without further incident. The usual routine ensued. He got his drink, the Piano Man struck up another jaunty tune, but he decided against gambling for now, instead just sitting at the bar.

"When ye came back I thought you were gonna try to reignite that hot streak of yours" Samwise the barkeep remarked with a cheeky grin as he cleaned a glass. Kit chuckled. "Call me superstitious, Sam, but once my luck runs out, I don't like to press it again until at least the next night" Kit smirked coyly. Oh if only Sam knew the depth of that statement...

Truth be told, the real reason he didn't gamble was to conserve mana. Sure, his card trick didn't take much mana, but he didn't know how long the new dragon smell would last. For all he knew, he could be playing this high stakes game of hide and seek for a few days, and keeping Nisha hidden was already a slow leak on his mana reserves.

For now, he'd use the relative calm to plan his next moves. He'd evaded the Knights for years, but that was without a tracking beacon on his shoulder. He didn't dare go home. Until the heat died down he'd need to just stay where there were plenty of other people to mitigate his chances of being found.

"Everyone listen up!" A rough voice called out and Kit mentally cursed. As he glanced over his shoulder, two Orc Knights strode in, ducking under the door frame as they made their presence known.

"We're looking for a fugitive in here who stole something from the Citadel Knights. We know he's in here." The leader spoke, eyes scanning the crowd, no doubt expecting someone to just be holding a dragon like a house cat. His brow furrowed when he seemed to realize that it would not be so easy.

Instead, he resorted to throwing his weight around, flipping a card table when he thought he was being ignored. "You idiots better listen when I-" he was interrupted as a bottle of ale broke over the back of his head. There was a sudden eruption as one of the orc regulars threw an entire keg at one of the Knights. Yes, the entire keg. The Keg, conveniently, Sam had set out moments prior for "reasons" with a devilish smirk. Soon chairs, bottles, steins, and fists were flying everywhere as the hapless Knights found themselves under siege by a whole bar full of drunkards.

Archie, Gods bless him, made it his personal mission to safeguard Kit's favorite chair. As the brawl exploded, he grabbed that mahogany chair and ducked behind the Piano, staying out of harm's way with the musician, who made sure to secure his tip jar first before seeking shelter.

Using the commotion, Kit left some coins on the bar before dipping out the backdoor into a narrow alley. "These guys are persistent..." Kit muttered as he moved to get back to the main busy streets. His ears perked up as he heard wings, and he quickly pressed himself into a gap between the buildings before eliminating his presence once more.

"Come out, come out~" a female voice called from astride a fire dragon. "If you come out peacefully and hand over the stolen goods... I won't have to roast you~" she called playfully. Her smile turned into a pout when Kit didn't answer.

"Fine, be that way! Light 'em up Enferno" She ordered. Her Dragon's maw opened, a bright fire forming in its mouth before the entire alleyway became a hellscape.

So hot...

It burned his lungs. It felt like he was inhaling flames and the heat, that inhuman heat threatened to make him collapse then and there! Fortunately, the little alcove he'd found kept him from directly touching the flames, but had that inferno not stopped when it did... he'd have collapsed.

Gasping for the cool night air as the fire died, Kit watched as the fiery rider crossed her arms, surveying the scene. Finding no corpse, she frowned and directed her Dragon to leave.

Once more, Kit dropped his powerful spell, just keeping Nisha hidden as he got back to the main streets.

"This.... is getting complicated..." Kit mused. Several dragons lined the rooftops of all types, Riders scanning the crowd as they moved about. How were they finding him so fast? It couldn't be scent, so what was it?!

He wracked his brains, meandering about with the crowd as he wandered. As long as he was with a crowd, they wouldn't be able to narrow it down.

Nisha chirped quietly in his ear and his tail dropped. "Dragons can sense hatchlings?!" He hissed, trying to keep his expression even. That added a whole new level of complexity that he did NOT need!

Before he could get his thoughts in order, a blast of air knocked him off his feet. An Air Dragon stared down at him, growling with menace.

"You're under arrest for theft from the Citadel Knights! Come quietly and you won't be harmed" A Human, presumably the Air Dragon's Rider spoke, approaching Kit with sword drawn. At this point, Kit had two options: feign innocence, or fight. Given that Air Dragon was smart enough to single him out...

"No, I don't think I will!" Kit snorted, kicking out from his seated position and sweeping the feet out from under the Knight. He'd barely taken five steps towards escape when a whistle rang out.

Reinforcements were coming...

Among Bestias, each clan was different. Ki'Tavi's clan, above all else, was known for speed and agility. He tore through the streets like a bat out of hell, dipping through side alleyways and backways to try and elude his pursuers. Still, even as fast as he was, he couldn't hope to evade the Dragons forever.

Still, for the moment his constant direction changes had, at the very least, made them lose sight of him. As his course took him above the Lower Stacks, he caught the odd sight of a Wyx, hanging by her tail over the ledge. The ground below them, he knew, was quite a distance away.

Nisha chirped in his ear.

"Yeah, we should help. We got some time before those Knights catch up to us..." Kit agreed, making his way to the ledge. Hopefully this wasn't some new fad among the kids he was too old to understand.

"Well now... I've heard of hanging around, but you take it a bit too serious, don't you think, love?" Kit called down to the hanging heroine. He chuckled to himself, reaching down to grab her by the belt and hoist her back onto solid ground.

He wasn't sure what he expected. A thank you, perhaps? He certainly didn't expect to need to duck under an errant swing from the woman's staff.

"Woah, easy there. You're liable to hurt someone swinging that stick around like that. Namely me!" Kit protested with a playful grin, holding his hands up defensively whilst his tail flicked behind him. Clearly this woman had a rough time if she was so slap-happy, but he hadn't done anything to deserve it! .....yet.....

A deafening roar caused his smile to vanish. Nisha, her voice still not obscured, chirped anxiously.

"Right, we should go." Kit agreed, his amber eyes meeting those of his new Wyx friend.
"Sorry to cut and run like this, love, but unfortunately, I'm popular tonight. Name's Ki'Tavi by the way." he grinned, backing up from the ledge. Getting a running start, he leaped from the ledge as Dragons approached, catching on a pole and sliding down to disappear into the crowd below.

What ensued from there, doubtless, would go down in history as the single greatest chase in the History of the Citadel Knights. He'd put distance between them, then erase his presence until they inevitably gave up and moved on. He'd have a reprieve where he could mingle amongst the crowd, but those reprieves got fewer and further between after the sun rose into the sky.

For hours, Kit kept these Knights embroiled in a Citadel-wide game of cat and mouse. Everytime they got close, he'd dive down an alleyway or erase his presence and lose them again. The Dragons, for their part, openly voiced their frustration whenever Kit erased his presence. According to Nisha, their language was... colorful to say the least. They couldn't figure out what was going on, and the frustration carried over to the Knights, who seemed to be quickly losing their hold on sanity as the chase dragged on.

Ultimately, though, Kit recognized he was fighting a losing battle. His mana was running out, and more and more Knights were joining the pursuit, doubtless because the other eggs and hatchlings had been found already...

Making it worse, his physical limits were about to be reached. His legs trembled with exhaustion as he found himself back in the same circle where it had all began so many hours before. His mana finally ran out as Nisha hid in his hood.

He could hardly even stand as dragons filled the air and landed all around him. Knights dismounted and drew weapons, approaching slowly because, for the first time, they could see Kit was armed. The spell that had concealed his swords was gone, revealing a blade on his left shoulder and one fixed to his left hip.

To his credit, Kit didn't go down easily. The first Knight to reach him tasted his foot, and then all hell broke loose. He drew the sword on his hip, parrying one hit and kicking away his assailant. Drawing his second blade, he became a tempest, deflecting blows and deftly deflecting attackers. Knowing his situation, he elected to knock them out with the flat of his blade rather than go for the kill. He doubted, though, that it would help his case when the inevitable happened. No matter how many he dropped, he was too far outnumbered.

It was a battle Ki'Tavi knew he couldn't win. As he went to step, his legs no longer supported his weight and he fell to his knees. An orc's boot sent him tumbling to the ground coughing for air. He tried to fight his exhaustion futily to stand, but a boot stomped on his chest to ensure that wouldn't happen.

"You gave us quite the runaround, Cat... but this is the end of you.." Cale stood over him, sword pointed towards Kit's throat.

Without warning, Nisha sprang from his hood and wrapped herself over Kit's neck to protect him, showing her fangs and hissing up at the Knight.

Cale paused, looking from Kit to the Dragon that defiantly nipped at his sword tip. The gears clearly turned in his head as he hesitated. "What's this dragon's name, Cat..." Cale inquired, keeping his temper in check as he waited for an answer.

"Nishati..."

"Did you name her?"

Kit shook his head. "She told me her name when she hatched..." At this point, it didn't do him any good to lie. They had him dead to rights, and he knew it. The best he could do is cooperate and hope to keep his head on his shoulders.

Cale sighed, sliding his sword back into his sheath. "Chain him up. This situation got a lot more complicated" Cale ordered. Oin took his sheaths, collecting his weapons as Bifur cuffed his wrists, his ankles, and then practically mummified him with chains.

"Oy, Bifur, ain't that a wee bit... I dunno, excessive?" Oin inquired with a quirked eyebrow.

"This Cat gave us the run around for I don't even know how many hours, and made me miss breakfast. I'm not taking any chances!" Bifur retorted irritably.

"Ki'Tavi"

"What?" The two dwarves both looked to the cocooned cat who had managed to speak.

"My name is Ki'Tavi, not Cat" Kit repeated.

"Well Ki'Tavi, I hope you know you're in a whole heap of trouble" Oin remarked as the two dwarves heaved Kit onto Cale's Fire Dragon and tied him down, even as Nishati hissed at them the whole time.

As the ground was left below them, Kit heaved a sigh. Nisha, even now, lay across his neck to protect him as best she could. "Thanks Nisha..." he murmured tiredly, his eyes slowly closing as exhaustion finally caught up to him and he lost consciousness.

 

[DuchessBecca]

Trina had finally made it out of the tunnels and down to the lower stacks. Exhaustion filled her steps as the night waned. Despite her muscles begging for sleep she still moved quickly through the space between the buildings on her way home.

What had started out as an extremely quiet night had ended up being filled with the incessant sounds of commotion throughout the Capital. She could hear yelling and the horns of the guards all through the night. She even heard the beating of the great wings of the Citadel Knights Dragons. Trina knew that if the dragon riders were dispatched that it meant that whatever was going on must have been very important.

Trina thought about all those Citadel Knights hanging around and for a moment she was filled with concern. After a few moments she realized that if the knights were busy with whoever they were chasing that meant that she would be in the clear to get her precious cargo back to her small abode. She took a moment to pull of her pack and take a small peek at the egg she had found earlier. It still had dull blue glow and when she touched it she could feel the warmth flicker with a chill for a few moments. It felt almost as if the egg was afraid of something. She had no clue how she knew that but for some reason it seemed right to her. She took a few moments and caressed the egg.

"It will be ok little one. I won't let those people take you and treat you like a tool. I will keep you safe." she cooed at the egg as a small smile played across her features. To her suprise the egg returned to its normal warm radiance and the shudders appeared to cease. After staring into the seemingly iridescent shell of the egg for a few more seconds she gently placed it back into her pack and strapped it back on.

She began to make her way again through the lower stacks trying to use side streets and alleys as much as possible. As Trina approached an intersection in the alleys she could hear the sounds of the knights seemingly growing closer. She paused at the edge of the intersection and waited to hear where they might be headed. As the sounds grew louder still she began to wonder if the party could be headed her way.

Just as she was about to poke her head around the corner and take a look she was interrupted by someone carreening around the corner and nearly colliding with her. She could see that he was covered in fur and she realized she had seen him once or twice around the lower stacks before. She had never introduced herself to him before. Their eyes locked for what seemed to be an eternity as both seemed surprised to see each other there. The cat man gave a slight bow and wink before they broke eye contact and he continued quickly along his way.

While in his presence she could feel the egg in her pack shift almost in desperation and Trina stood stunned wondering if the encounter was merely a coincidence. Soon though her moment of thought was interrupted as a knight on an earth dragon rounded the corner as well.

Trina seemed paralyzed as she came face to face with someone she had not seen in many years. She recognized the knight as her brother's best friend Thaddeus. They had grown up together and were inseparable. She knew he had been with her brother when he had disappeared all those years ago, but he had stuck to the story that the council had shoved down her throat whenever she asked. She had come to Thaddeus many times searching for the truth of her brothers disappearance however Thaddeus would refuse to make eye contact with her and just halfheartedly lie to her. She could see the pain in his face as he refused to tell her the truth and quickly it must have become too much for him as he then refused to even speak to her anymore.

Soon after he had been promoted to a Dragon Rider and she had begun to turn into the "Trouble Maker" that the council had labeled her as. There had been several times where she had been caught causing a disturbance and she had come face to face with Thaddeus but he had just begun to get angry at Trina for her reckless disregard for the law. She had ended up beaten many times as she spit in his face for betraying her and her brother so. As Trina stood here face to face with the face she was so familiar with she quickly tried to think of a way out of her current predicament.

After several moments Thaddeus finally spoke, "where did the cat go?" The question came out more as a growl and Trina could feel her anger begin to bubble up. Her eyes narrowed and her hands quickly planted themselves on her hips.

"As if i would tell you!" she huffed out and began to turn away from the knight. She could hear him growl with anger as he quickly dismounted his dragon and stomped up to her as she casually strolled away.

"I asked you a question filth!" he spit as he grabbed her by the strap of her backpack. As he yanked on her pack to spin her to face him it tore. The bag fell to the ground and the egg fell out and rolled towards the guard. He stared wide eyed at the egg and then looked back at Trina.

"NOOOO" was all Trina could manage as she dove to collect the egg. As she dove she just barely missed the swing of Thaddeus' club as he tried to bash her head in. She quickly scooped the egg up and turned to bound away when she felt a sharp pain in her side. She skid across the pavement and into the wall of the nearby building. As she began to regain her senses and tried to pick herself back up she felt another sharp pain on the side of her head as Thaddeus released another savage swing from his club. As she lay on her side clutching the egg to her chest her vision began to slowly fade. The last thing she saw was Thaddeus raising his club high again as he prepared to swing.

 

[Soviet Panda]

Bryn had taken shelter behind a thick, wooden pillar that supported the ceiling of his forge as the orb began to glow an intense white. And finally, with a loud, low boom, the orb shattered. Almost sprinting around the pillar to see what had happened in detail, he was so engrossed in inspecting the shards that he did not notice the small reptile like creature that was where the orb had been on the anvil. However, after discovering that while one side of the fragment was indeed a metallic color, the inside gave way to an eggshell white. This prompted the dwarf to turn around, and spot the dragon hatchling that just sat gawking at him.

"Oh no. No no no, you weren't supposed to be a dragon. I'm not supposed to have you." Bryn began as he quickly approached the creature that was easily the length of his arm and only slightly slimmer. "Ome, why didn't you tell me it was a dragon egg? I know I know I wouldn't have understood it, but you could have taken it away or something. But you even encouraged it. Oh no, this isn't good. Not at all, not one bit." As he spoke, the small hatchling decided it would join in on the noise making. And with a low wumph, it managed to cause Bryn to stagger to the side. "No, don't do that. Don't do whatever it was you just did. Just sit there and let me figure this out," he said, hands outstretched as if to calm down a pet. The hatchling took it as an invitation, and slithered/crawled it's way up to his shoulders and head, clicking contently to itself, mimicking the dwarf.

"Wait, I can understand you. Ome, I can understand it. Why can I understand it?" Bryn was starting to panic now. He didn't know what the punishment would be, but he certainly knew that it would be bad for business. He would be the criminal smith that had somehow managed to steal a dragon egg, and hatch it to boot. And not just the ones that laid about only to make smoke, but an actual dragon. "I'll take you to the Citadel Knights. Yep, that's what I'll do. I'll explain the whole thing. Show them the hole as proof. Well maybe not the whole thing, yes, definitely leave out the parts with hammers in them. They don't need to know about that, not one bit."

As he spoke, he hurried out of his forge, heading towards where the High Stacks met the Sky Stacks. And he would have walked all the way there, dragon crawling all over him (under his arm, down one leg then up his back, across his chest, you get the idea), had a Citadel Knight not stopped him barely a block away. "It just fell from the sky sir, didn't know what it was, then it just exploded and next thing I knew this was on me." Bryn blurted out as soon as he saw the Knight, but his explanation was not up to par, or at the very least didn't get him out scot-free, as he was still put in cuffs and hoisted onto the back of an Earth dragon, where he rode back to the Citadel Knight's HQ, where he was separated from Stal (the self title of the dragon) and put in a cell. His clothes had several new tears in them, caused by the dragon's unwillingness to be parted from the only world it knew.

 

[Letai]

Elkie

| Location: |Middle Stack
Her Home
| With: | Rock? [Egg]
| Mentions: |

Having finally gotten all the pixies to rest, with only slight protest , and playfully tucked some of them in, Elkie decided to finally retire but not before quickly seeing her father, Tala and his bonded,Mimi, who was in all ways, but biologically, her mother.

She quickly bounded down the stairs and swung open their doors, and burst into their home only to be greeted by the couple in a tight embrace.


‘Ewww, really,’ Elkie is disgusted and proceeds to leave.
…

‘I am joking, make some space for me.’

Elkie peeps out from behind the door and jumps in between the two woodlings, where she is now squished slowing being crushed and is losing all oxygen.

That was the last we would every see of Elkie…

Till a moment later.

At last she was released and turn her attention upwards to Tala and Mimi, Both were much taller than Elkie causing Elkie to be eye level with their torso. She rarely spent long with her parents, especially when they were standing as she would often leave with overwhelming aches along her spine which were usually cured by Elkie’s unreliable and dodgy healing.

‘I was just going to say goodnight, I am quite exhausted.’

‘Okay...’

‘Goodnight.’

Her parents were people of few words only speaking when absolutely necessary. While it did contrast her nature very severely , they were excellent listeners and helped Elkie a lot in terms of giving her careful advice. Hse used to be closer to them as a sprout but as she has grown she feels they have purposely distanced themselves to let her explore and learn life lessons on her own. She must learn from her mistakes without guidance from her parents.

Elkie quickly dismissed those thoughts as she was reminded of the warm stone as it rested against her hip through her bag. It emitted a warmness that was similar to healthy soil used to plant everything in the fields.

She quickly bounded up the stairs to her home, careful to slightly quiet as to not disturb the sleeping pixies.

Once inside she plopped down, undressed and washed herself quickly with water she had collected from a nearby spring. While woodlings did not often clean as,water would wash off too much moss which many woodlings enjoyed having on them, and wood did not get dirty and smell overtime. However Elkie was also made up of skin, and when moss grows on that it was definitely not enjoyable. She got redress then precedded to open up her bag and lift out her rock.

She immediately noticed a bunch of fissures and cracks. Oh no poor Rocky, did someone stomp on you? She patted it slightly before adjusting her other rocks to make space for it in her rock collection.

Unknown to Elkie one rock was not what it seemed. It was actually dry and hardened manure but the pixies enjoyed having their own practical joke. However the smell annoyed the pixies while Elkie was always oblivious, as always. So the prank somewhat backfired

Elkie gently placed the rock down and held it just a little longer. It was warm and made her feel hapy and all tingly inside. A lot of things made Elkie happy but this rock felt special.

You made me fall over but your still cute. Very warm, too. Okie, you get to sleep in the bed. Come on.

Elkie picked back up the rock, [okay all of us know it is a dragon egg but Elkie doesn’t so just keep it on the low and let us keep pretending for her], and rested it next to her to sleep.

code by RI.a

 

[Simple_Traveler]

"Hmph, jeeze another fight?" Daevar asked rhetorically while he leaned against a crumbling wall. His head felt like his brain was beating the insides of his skull and all of the colorful contusions on his muscled body ached at the thought of another brawl. But, as the hybrid glanced down at the pearly, gleaming egg held in his arm Daevar suddenly felt a strange protectiveness come over him. For some reason it felt...right being this unborn dragon's gaurdian. With a decision made Daevar looked back to his scaley friend, a rare, slight grin turning his lips.
"Sure, I've got your back. Now take that egg off of the table before it sets-"
Daevar never finished the sentence as a noise whispered against his sensitive ears...sounds like...clinking armor....Oh Shit.

 

[Boondox]

Neira moved swiftly yet quietly through the streets, the cold egg pressed against her side as she pushed forward. Entering her home in the high stacks. She pushed through the door an hastily ran up her stairs to her room. Her aunt must have been out with some friends for the night as the place was quiet. Seating herself on her bed she placed the egg carefully on her pillow. It almost seemed to beckon her over as she sat a small distance from it. What was she to do? She knew having such a valuable item was going to be a problem but what if the poor hatchling wasn't safe with the knights after all? As she sat quietly, lost in her thoughts.. she wasn't aware that the crack like markings were beginning to almost glow. And within a few moments it began to actually crack.

Neira removed herself from her room to walk back down the stairs to fetch a glass of water, in turn something was bothering her.. her gut feeling was telling her to return upstairs. Just as she was about to return to her room there was a knock at the door. Huffing a sigh she set her glass of water down an opened the door a crack. Two of her fellow knights were standing there "Neira we need you to come at once" She stiffened, something was wrong. Before they could blink she took off running, slamming the door on them. Entering her room she was shocked to find not an egg on her pillow, but a pearly white baby dragon, seated calmly on his haunches he tilted his head at her, large beaty eyes looking up at her as she froze dead in her tracks an mumbled under her breath "You weren't supposed to hatch for me" the loud thumping of footsteps brought Neira back to reality. Reaching out a hand, the little male jumped to her, landing on her forearm an climbing up to her shoulder. Neira turned to face the door as the two men stopped at her doorway. As if sensing the tension, the little hatchling curled his upper lips an released a small growl. The two men shook their heads "Neira what have you done?!"

With a heavy sigh she reached a hand up to pet the dragons head "I found the egg at the spot our comrades went missing! It wasnt supposed to hatch!" The two men exchanged glances "Neira we have no choice but to arrest you until the council decides" Neira, knowing very well she could not escape both men reached her arms out "Ill come easily if you leave him alone. You let him do what he wants!" She gestured to the young dragon on her shoulder "Neira ... very well" they cuffed both her wrists an began their journey to the HQ. Once there they were forced to part the little dragon from Neira's shoulder "NO... SEVEROUS!" Neira's reaction was not at all expected, even for her! Who was severous? Did she just name the hatchling?

 

[PhantomSamurai]

Uta listened quietly trying to hear what had caught Daevars attention when he started hearing a commotion outside that sounded like all hell had broken loose. He didnt notice that his egg had started glowing brighter and hotter, "well they are here sooner than I thought" he says standing up and stretching letting out a slight groan. He started towards the door when he noticed something unsual "does it feel hotter in here to you Daevar?" He says turning and looking at his egg, it was glowing bright red and orange now and emitting even more intense heat.

"Uhhhhh that's interesting" he says as cracks begin to to appear all over the egg "oh shit this isnt happening now what do I...." he starts but is interrupted by a loud explosion come from the egg. "Holy shit get down" he says tackling Daevar as egg shrapnel flew in every direction, when the pieces stopped flying he looked up where the egg used to be was now a huge spot of scorched wood, egg shrapnel, and a newborn dragon. He stared at it in awe small red and black creature that was currently pacing back and forth on the table letting out growls and grunts smoke coming out of its nose. Uta stands up carefully brushing the debris and soot off his clothes "uhh hey there little fella so this must be confusing but uh i guess I'm like your mom now or something" he says smiling.

The dragon growled and shot a blast of flame at him, he yelled and jumped back the blast scorching his jacket, "ok not mom how about dad?" He says laughing nervously. Another blast that just narrowly misses him, "fun distant uncle who visits occasionally?" He says putting his hands up, another blast this one catching his jacket on fire. He starts hitting his jacket to put out the flames as the dragon stared at him grunting and growling ready for another go, "alright now you little fire demon from hell I found you and I hatched you so I'm responsible for your well being now you will show me some goddamn respect you hear me!!??" He shouts pointing at the dragon angrily. The dragon merely stared at Uta for a moment, he steadied himself for another fire blast. Instead the dragon vaulted off the table and starting clawing and biting at Uta aiming for any spot it could, "oh what the fuck you little fire demon get off owww" he shouts as the dragon keeps assaulting him.

He stumbles backwards out of Daevars home trying to get the angry dragon baby off of him as it clawed and bit at him, he pulls it off momentarily yelling in triumph "what.now.you little pyscho" he says as the dragon blows smoke in his eyes and restarts its assault. He trips and falls to the ground still being attacked. "Son of a bitch that's its you are going in timeout ya damn demon" he shouts pulling a bag out of his jacket he quickly grabs the dragon and puts it in the bag as is claws, bites, snarls, and growls trying to get out. He suddenly feels the bag get warm and knows the dragon is trying to burn it's way out "ha good luck this bag is special its fire proof so burn all you want I ain't letting you out until you calm down" he shouts trying hard to keep ahold of the bag as the dragon thrashed around inside. He suddenly notices the sounds of a lot of heavy footsteps and looks up just in time to see someone he knew, Kit hauling ass by him "what in the ass..." Uta starts but then sees a ton of guards run by after him with a few dragons in pursue as well.

He stood up and brushed himself off with the hand not holding the dragon in bag "wonder what the hell Kit did this time, steal the pants off all the council member" he says to himself chuckling. He heard more heavy footfalls and turned to see a group of guards that had apparently fallen behind the main chasers, "uh hey fellas I think you want to go that way after the cat guy" he says pointing in the direction everyone else went. They nodded and started to move when the dragon in the bag started growling and snarling again, "what's in the bag sir?" A guard asks him. "Uhhhh it's my pet...uhh...fish yeah it's a fish his name is Larry and hes a good boy" he says smiling but secretly scolding himself for telling such a stupid lie. "A fish...a fish out of water...in the bag?" The guard asks "uh yeah hes a land fish very unique" he responds as the bag suddenly bursts into flames with the dragon falling harmlessly to the ground.

The guards all look at him and he back at them "hey guys this is larry....tadaaaaaa" he says smiling wondering how he was gonna get out of this one. The dragon started biting at Utas feet still only focused on him when one of the guards spoke "not only are you a liar but you are also a thief, that dragon is property of the citadel and you are gonna have to come with us and be held accountable for your crimes now dont resist or we will beat you into submission" the guard says drawing his weapon. Utas smile faded when he saw the sword "that's a very bad idea I suggest you put it away" he says sternly now ignoring the fact that the dragon was biting through his boots.

The other guards drew as well slowly moving towards Uta and the dragon that was still trying to murder his feet. "I really wouldnt guys someone's gonna get hurt and it ain't gonna be me" he says eyeing the advancing guards, he knows what's coming next and wants the dragon out of harm's way "sorry about this bud" he says lifting the dragon up on his foot and flinging it away towards the corner of the street as soon as he did the closest guard lunged forward with his sword. Uta pivoted causing the guard to lose his balance and fall forward "amateur" he says landing a powerful chop to the back of the guards neck causing him to land on the ground unconscious. "Now since you attacked me I have no choice to fight back, you being guards I wont kill any of you but i am going to make you work for this and bleed for thia" he says readying himself in a fighting stance. The dragon having landed nearby watched scene closely intrigued by the events unfolding, the lead guard looked at the dragon then at Uta "you guys go secure the dragon the rest of you with me we are gonna teach this lowly lizard a lesson" he says moving forward with his weapon aimed at Uta. "You will not lay a hand on that dragon" he says lunging forward at the guards with surprising speed the guards stopped in surprise as Uta crashed into the group and begun unleashing a fury of attacks from both feet and fists knocking the guards on their butts.

"This is embarrassing men hes one fucking lizard get him" the lead guard says jumping up and running towards Uta, he swung his sword but Uta easily avoided it and launched a kick right into the mans abdomen that knocked the wind out of him before he did a backspin kick that connected with the guards chin sending he spiraling back. Uta landed back on his feet motioning for the other guards to come forward and attack before hearing the dragon growling and snarling, he noticed the other guards cornering his new rabid friend, the dragon growled and blew a blast of fire at one of the guards causing him to drop and roll around the ground trying to put himself out. The other guard gave the dragon a swift punch and kick causing it to growl in momentary pain, this caused Uta to feel enraged. He evaded the guards he was fighting and launched himself towards the ones trying to catch the.dragon.

He landed in between the guard and the dragon his eyes alight with rage, "big mistake" he says as the guard yells and attacks, Uta catches his arm in a tight grip his sharp nails digging into the mans armor leaving indents. He brings the mans arm down hard on his knee snapping the. One in half with a sickening crack, the guard screams in pain before Uta delivers a headbutt to the man knocking him out. The dragon no longer growling but instead looking up at Uta its head tilted, the remaining guards pull themselves together and notice their fallen comrades "give it up you fucking reptile you cant win you and that stupid dragon are coming with us" one says "yeah go fuck yourself with. Rusty mace you ass, no one is touching this fucking dragon unless they kill me first" he says guarding the dragon who still looked at him quizzically.

The guards yell and rush forward, Uta having had enough of this bullshit, reached into his jacket with both hands producing numerous throwing knives. He throws them all at once towards the approaching attackers each hitting their mark in non vital areas, this caused the group to stagger and fall trying to pull the knives out. "Who's next come on!!! I'll take on anyone who would hurt this dragon!!" He yells, he hears more footsteps and produces more knives from his jacket preparing for the next wave. However this time it was not foot soldiers but archers, they all stopped and raised their bows aiming at both him and the dragon, he could try and take them on but he knew the dragon could potentially be hurt, then he heard the sound of lound flapping wings "well shit this is over now" he says as a dragon appears overhead. He puts his hands up to surrender.

"Alright, alright, alright, I'll give up but no one touches the fucking dragon hes mine" he says as one of the guards he knifed came up behind him, "it's a girl you dumbass" he says before knocking Uta out. The dragon crawled over to Uta and tucked herself in his jacket growling and smoking at anyone who tried to take her out, "forget it just leave it for now get him out of here" someone says picking up a groggy Uta. "A girl?...well little fire demon that's a surprise....fire demon? Im gonna name you Honarri" he says before passing out. The newly named Honarri grunted dug into his jacket deeper.

 

[IDKnuggets]

The roar of a dragon filled the air, and as the feet of several of the beasts touched the ground Wayne stood and set his mug on the counter. Evelyn looked at him, the worry clear in her eyes. Not looking back, the man patted the egg and strode toward the door.

Three Citadel Knights came charging in through the door, two orcs flanking a single human knight on each side. The orcs each had their weapons in hand, but the human had yet to draw his blade. The man had an air that reeked of nobility, and carried himself with poise.

Hands raised, Wayne stopped halfway to the door. “I take it ye boys are here for that, yeah?” he questioned with a nod to the egg, drawing the Knights attention to the place he believed they would find an egg. Instead, there sat a young blue dragon beside a terrified Evelyn.

The human knight quickly began approaching the dragon, but as he reached Wayne the barman grabbed his arm and swung him to the ground. The two orcs went to stop him, but froze in place as the noble’s own blade pressed against his throat.

Holding the noble knight hostage with his own sword, Wayne slowly stepped back to the rear exit. As he made his way past the newly hatched dragon, he was surprised when the creature hopped onto his back.

“Sir Gentry, what would you have us do?” one of the two orcs questioned, making it clear that they served the noble knight directly. The other orc growled in frustration, torn between the want to harm Wayne and his duty to protect his charge.

“If either of ye lads move even an inch, the young sir’s head will roll" these words, and the pissing-my-pants expression on Gentry's face, made the orc knights pause just long enough for Wayne to reach the rear of the bar. Sending the soiled noble to the floor with a kick to the back, he turned and barreled out the door.

“Move!” Gentry managed to spit out, fear and embarrassment clear in his voice “you fools!”

Wayne began to run down the alleyway, but was quick to spin on his heel when he saw a bestias heading his direction with an army of knights on their tail. For a moment he and the cat were running alongside each other, Wayne shooting him a grin and a short wave before splitting off in the opposite direction at the end of the alley. A few of the knights split off to go after him, but most followed the bestias which led Wayne to believe he had been giving them quite a bit of trouble.

The baby dragon rested its chin on his shoulder, chirping at him curiously. Patting the dragon on the head, Wayne decided that his best option would be to return to his parents home. They had been hiding from the Citadel for as long as he had been alive, so if anyone could keep him hidden it would be them. But first, he needed to lose these knights and get his things.

Allowing the knights to gain some ground, once they were almost close enough to reach out and grab him he suddenly stopped and dropped to the ground, tripping the knight directly behind him. That knight was one of just four that had followed him, and Wayne dispatched him with a hard kick to the head.

The next came at him with her sword drawn, fortunately Wayne had Gentry's sword. This knight was clearly a rookie, as she charged him and attacked with a wide swing that was easily parried. A deep cut to her leg ensured she wouldn’t be chasing anyone anytime soon.

The final two were more cautious than the others, slowly approaching him together. Their eyes locked on his sword, they were caught off guard when he tossed it into the air. A punch to the nose and a kick to the back of the knee took one of them down. Grabbing the other's sword arm, he spun the night’s sword around forcing him to release it as his arm twisted. The inexperienced knight was knocked out with the hilt of his own sword, and in that time the other had managed to rise to his feet only to be knocked back down by a pouncing dragon.

Wayne stabbed the fallen man in the thigh before lifting the small dragon off his face. “I would leave that in there, boyo, unless ye want bleed yourself dry before help arrives.” With the last knight taken care of, he fled before more came along and found them.

When he reached the small shack he called home, he took a moment to pour two drinks. Downing one, he offered the other to the small dragon. It took a sniff and cautiously tasted it, before making a face and backing away. With a shrug, Wayne downed the other drink and began to gather his things.

“Kogasu, pass me that sword will ye?” he wasn’t sure why that name had come to him but the dragon responded with a happy chirp and trotted over to him, sword in mouth. “Well you're a clever one, ain'tcha” Kogasu puffed his chest out proudly, causing Wayne to laugh and pat his head.

“Well, that’s all of it so we best be going" with an agreeing twitter, the young beast followed him out the door and into the street.

There, they found themselves face to face with a citadel dragon. One of the orcs from the bar sat atop it, a predatory grin on his face.

“Ah, balls" with those words, a blow to his head rendered Wayne unconscious. Kogasu nudged him with his nose, shooting a glare at the second orc that had come from behind them.

“Father will be quite pleased with this" Sir Gentry pulled his hand back as the baby dragon nipped at his finger “though it does seem unfortunately attached to the cretin that stole it.” The two orcs gathered Wayne and Kogasu, managing to separate the dragon from the man with some effort, and mounted their own dragons.

“Sir Gentry, perhaps you should return home for a… change of clothes" one of the orcs spoke, eyeing the stain on his superiors white breeches.

“That man… he will rot in a cell for the rest of his days, that I swear" the young noble huffed.

 

[Simple_Traveler]

"Dammit Uta!" Daevar growled under his breath as he brought another knight down with a well aimed kick to the chest which sent her flying into a cluster of her comrades who all wound up being knocked down like a set of bowling pins. The hybrid had run after his idiot friend when the hatchling attacked the Scalite and his thrashing sent both lizard and dragon into the path of an entire platoon of Citadel Knights. Daevar had managed to catch up just in time to see Uta be swallowed up by the horde of armor-clad bodies. And so here the hybrid was, dispatching foes left and right as he tried to locate his friend before the Scalite got himself killed. 'Then again' Daevar mused silently as he puched a knight hard enough to leave a nice sized dent in the fellow's helmet, 'Compared to most of the demented fucks we've had to fight in the Dark Stacks alone these guys are complete amateurs. I kind feel sorry for them...nah, not really.'
Daevar's thoughts were cut short when a knight, a stocky Moor Elf weilding a war hammer, swung his weapon at his arm which still held the egg that hybrid, in his haste to leave, forgot to leave at the house. Thankfully Daevar managed to step around both weapon and wielder. The Moor Elf pivoted around to face his foe, hammer still held in a defensive position.
"Surrender the egg you half breed theif! You might only rot in a dungeon for the rest of your miserable life instead of face the executioner's blade if you do so," the elf stated before his lips curl in disgust, "Though an abominable creature like yourself deserves to die here in this sespit if you ask me, Hiyah!"
The knight suddenly took another swing, this time aiming for Daevar's head, but the hybrid snatched up the warhammer a foot away from its target. With a frustrated curse he tried to wrench his weapon away but it was caught in an iron grip. Deavar glared at the struggling man venomously before simply snapping the weapon in two like it was a matchstick. As the knight stared dumbly at broken shaft in his hands Daevar cracked the hammer against his jaw, sending the man flailing to the ground crying out in agony. Unfortunately this would spark the beginning of things going very, very wrong for the hybrid. Daevar was about to knock the screaming elf out when he heard the sound of several objects flying at his back. He tried to duck, but fatigue from fighting nearly non stop all day had finally caught up to him. The arrows buried themselves deep into the flesh of his back, eliciting a sharp yell from Daevar as white hot pain surged his new injuries. He turned his head to see seven archers positioned behind him, already primming to unleash another barrage of arrows. Daevar never gave them the chance.
With all the speed and power of a locomotive Daevar charged at the bowmen while using his inborn magics to push the arrows out of his back and heal the wounds. The archer's shock at his unexpected recovery was taken full advantage of as Daevar punched and kicked them all into submission, even taking one guy's bow and smashing it over his head. Soon the hybrid was surrounded by unconscious bodies.
A sudden wave of dizziness made Daevar stumble.
'Must've over done it on healing magic, damn,' Daevar thought, wishing not for the first time that he inherited his father's magical stamina. Then the sound of rustling wings could be heard causing Daevar to look just as a frickin' dragon landed on the ground with a thunderous 'boom'. Crap, he really needed to find Uta! Half a second later Daevar felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
'The hell is-?'
Pain.
A deep, searing pain suddenly exploded in the left side of his back and chest as an energy bolt pierced through his body like a hot poker through cheese. Once the energy disapated all that was left was a gaping hole that immediately glushed out a geyser of blood that ran down his body in thick rivulets that stained his pants and kilt crimson. The next second saw Daevar on his knees, numb fingers dropping the dragon egg on the ground. He tried to breath but coughed up a lungful of blood instead. Automatically the hybrid internally reached out for him magic to fix the damage. It wouldn't be enough, he knew something like this would require all of his magical energy to fix, but using it all day in the ring and to heal the arrow wounds had depleted the energy by over half. His eye sight was starting to grey around the edges, no doubt because of both lack of oxygen and blood loss, which is why he missed the man approaching until he was right in front of him. It was the Moor Elf, now sporting a swollen jaw and holding a smoking rune. Ah, that's who fired the attack.
Eveything started to slow down around Daevar, who could only watch helplessly as the knight aimed the runed at him again, this time at his head. The hybrid closed his eyes and waited.
'Mother, Father....please forgive me...'
Suddenly the egg lurched, cracks forming across the pearly surface that emitted a blinding light. The knight was forced to cover his eyes as the area was swathed in the golden glow that lasted for several seconds. When it finally disapated the knight quickly noticed that the egg was gone and in its place, now standing in front of Daevar, was pure white dragon hatchling. It was staring the Moor Elf down with its sky blue eyes narrowing into slits as if daring the man to hurt the being behind it again. Then its attention shifted when Daevar, now half conscious, coughed up another lungful of blood. With a concerned thrill the dragon placed its front feet near the weeping injury and closed its eyes in concentration. Immediately a flood of healing magic flushed the wound, knitting muscle, organ, bone, and finally skin back together. Soon all that was left of the hole was a wicked looking scar. Eyes now open the hatchling inspected its work, chipped approvingly and then curled up against Daevar's knees and was asleep in no time. The whole time the Moor Elf watched, unable to believe what he was seeing. A light dragon chosing a lowly half breed for its rider? Inconceivable! However he couldn't in good conscience deny thats exactly what happened. Oh, what to do, what to do?
Then the knight observed as Daevar sluggishly lifted a large hand over to the resting hatchling and lightly patted the top of her head.
"...Thank you....Aya-Nanshe..." he heard the half-breed mumble before fully passing out. The knight snorted through his nose and stalked off. Time to find some of his comrades who're well enough to carry their new prisoners to the Earth dragon for transport and a healer for his broken jaw.

 

[Letai]

Elkie

| Location: |Middle Stack
Her Home
| With: | Stomper
Rock? [Egg]
| Mentions: |

It seemed as if Elkie had just fallen asleep before she was woken by something brushing up against her. Rustling, and little squeaks and squeels.

"Elkie!"

"ELKIE!"

"The dragon woke up"

"IT WOKE UP"

"The egg hatched"

A flood of different voices washed over Elkie.

These damn pixies, I do not get any beauty sleep.

"Calm down it was just a dream" Elkie dismissively mumbled as she rolled over and hope to return to sleep

"It broke all your rocks"

“WHAT!”, Elkie jolted awake and into sitting position.

She blearily open her eyes and glanced around the room

It was still nighttime and the only light was a few candles around the room. Immediately as Elkie rose the startled pixies flutter over to her. Their nervous murmurs and shock expressions alerted Elkie.

“What’s going on. What happened?”

“Ju-just look,” whimpered a pixie.

Taking into account how scared the pixies were Elkie braced herself and her eyes slowly lit up the whole room. Her eyesight slowly adjusting, Elkie finally saw the wreckage of the room.

Everything was strewn across the room. Cupboards were open and had fallen over. Worst of all her rock collection was destroyed, in pieces and the new leader seem to have just exploded

Standing in the middle of all this chaos, with a bright expression was this creature large compared to the pixies but still roughly twice as small as Elkie. Coated in moss with small plants just sprouting, this mostly rock and wood based creature stared up at Elkie with wide, bright green eyes. Elkie could see herself reflected within its orbs, slight glowing due to her own. Hard stony plates covered the underside of its body while growing vines twisted around its body. Small branches twirled to make horns.Its small face was small, and round with a short, snub snout and in the centre of the forehead bloomed a small daisy.

I redecorated for you.

Elkies eyes widened even more as she heard a voice coming from the creature as it chuffed happily, and inspected its work around the room. Did this thing just talk.

I am not a thing. I am a dragon.

I know why the pixies were scared now. This a talking dragon.

“You broke my rocks. I just got one of them,” grumbled Elkie. “You know this is breaking and entering I can report you, home wrecker.” Technically, you brought me inside. “ I definitely did not bring you inside. You can’t trick me. I am no fool. I would remember bringing a dragon inside let alone carry you.” But you did ‘No I didn’t”

Meanwhile the pixies are utterly confused as to why she is talking to a dragon though it does seem to chuff in reply.

“Elkie, why are you talking to the dragon. It can’t speak” said Mayan, head pixie

“You can’t hear it. Well it is talking to me. It says I brought it inside which I certainly did not”

“Ahhmm, well you actually did. The new rock was a dragon egg but we all thought it was dud one, and it would be okay. No way did we think it was a real living egg.”

“Oh. Okay, doesn’t matter. Mister you can not stay. I can not house dragon, go home please.”

The little dragon trotted towards Elkie, it feet seemed to rattle the room slightly with his weight shifting. The whole home creaked.

I don’t have a home. I was born here, so this is my home. Please let me stay.

The damn dragon pouted slighted, eyes gleaming hitting a weak spot in Elkie.

“Okay... just for tonight, and be quiet, Jeez you are such a stomper”

Thank you.

Elkie was ready to return to sleep and would ask her parents about it in the morning. For just a second there was peace. Then rustling.


Until Elkie’s window was ripped apart, leaving a giant whole into her room. Having your house ripped in half would scare anyone but having a giant dragon head peeking into her home nearly gave Elkie a heart attack, and it seemed to be the same to Stomper who immediately launch himself into Elkie’s arms, knocking all the air out of her. The pixies all hid away,dragons scared them let alone giant ones with knights.


Several knights rushed into her room glancing between her and the dragon resting on her chest.


“It’s not what it looks like, Mr Knight. This thing came onto me. I didn’t do anything.” Elkie breathless cried as all the stress from the night finally made her tears fall.

“Sure, Sure that's what everyone says,” as the knight struggling to quickly put the uncooperative dragon in a cage. The dragon was in a similar state as Elkie whining and crying.

'Elkie, help me' Stomper whimpered.

The knights roughly grabbed Elkie and restrained her before throwing her on the back of the dragon.

“Please my parents run some fields here and I need to help them.” Elkie bawled

“Should have thought of that before you picked up a dragon egg.” said the knight before the dragon took off into the air.” Heights scared Elkie as she curled up, while being roughly held by the knight. Tears blurred her vision as she slowly saw her home vanishing from view.

“But I didn’t know” Elkie sobbed.

code by RI.a