Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2018 0:36:45 GMT -5
I. DREAMER
It didn't feel like real flying, but after nearly twenty years I'm not sure if I know what true flying really feels like. Just not like this. My wings glided through the clouds, looking no different than the clouds themselves, disappearing completely and breaking off in a trail of mist from the cloud like one wave crashing through another, albeit much more gracefully. I could still feel things in this misty spirit of a form, but I felt like air. So weightless it was almost numbing. In the shape of a bird, I'd like to think I resembled an eagle, but pure white and no real body. If I returned to my corporeal form I would grow four legs, a bulged muzzle and a sleek white pelt. I hated that form, the wolf form, and I hate the guardian who cursed me with it twenty years ago. I was once a proud beast of the sky, scales like pearls and enough fire in my belly to level a city. WaveWatcher the former guardian was careful, as much as I want nothing more than to see her dead she knew very well that when you clip a dragon's wings you better make sure he can't bite you back.
And now I was on my way to her former realm, the kingdom she helped raise from the ashes of Old Dnolevia and the very one she had sworn herself to protect for decades.
The clouds ended ahead, I could tell, like they were cut through in the way an escarpement cuts the land, a slopeless edge. Right below it was the realm's gate exactly where it should be. I angled my wings back and landed between the two pillars of ice that formed it, marking that this was the only way into the realm unless you wanted to deal with a magic barrier. Not even the weather could get through it but it remained entirely invisible all the same. The twin pillars curved outwards from each other, carefully carved down into smooth clear ice that made them stand out against anything else despite how unassuming they looked.
I shifted from one form to another as I landed and shivered as my four paws immediately sunk deep into the snow of the mountain-side. The shiver went up my legs to my spine and make me shake like a leaf in the wind, which tugged at my fur and seemed determined to throw me off the mountain. One step after another I made crunching footsteps in the untouched snow as I moved for the gate. I kept my head ducked down against the wind but knew I was finally there when a last gust seemed to blow all the wind away and air settled in an eerly quietness. Without the white clouds above the dark night sky finally showed through and I opened my eyes again.
I had no idea what I would find in this unfamiliar territory, I only knew what I hoped to find. My sister's son. She named him Wishbone. What a stupid name. If he turns out to be anything like my sister this journey will be all for not.
Once again I hate this form. A dragon has nothing to fear but the gods and maybe a larger dragon. A wolf in this world has nearly everything to fear. I've only heard tales of the world humans live in, wolves there sound like noble predators but in the Otherworld you may as well be a field mouse for all the good it does you. Nearly everything here is larger than a wolf, the only true born wolves are elementals or contain some powers of their own.
Of course my sister was turned wolf as well, so her son and my sons were all born as wolves. Wishbone's father, a wolf. The mother of my sons wherever she may be now, a wolf. I only hope they still had dragon blood, hope is all I have now as much as it painfully reminds me how far I've fallen.
The only powers left to me by the curse were that of the mist, and illusions. What are nothing but illusions now would be much more real if I ever return to being a dragon again. It'll have to do for now.
But I'm about to meet my opposite.
"Who are you?"
Heavens, I didn't even notice him appear. Staring at me not seven feet from my nose was another wolf. A shadow with a wolf form? That's the only way I could explain how he came from out of nowhere. Black furred with piercing eyes, one green one blue, and two lighter marks just below the one eye like scars in his pelt. Definitely a living shadow, the marks showing his past lives, his reincarnations. I wondered how much he could remember from his past lives until I realized I had spent several moments staring at this wolf without a reply.
"I take it you're the guardian?"
I felt stupid for saying it like that but I tried to keep a stoic, almost arrogant demeanor. Of course he was the guardian no one would stand at a gate in the middle of the night if it wasn't their duty. He didn't seem to know how to answer. He was clearly very young, trying to be tough and confrontational but his eyes were full of uncertainty. This is the pup they sent to replace WaveWatcher?
"I asked you a question." He said finally, not giving up any ground.
"So then you don't know who I am?" My arrogant remark came naturally.
"Should I?"
Smart kid, I almost huffed openly in amusement. "I am Dreamer."
"Why are you here Dreamer?" He asked.
No questions about the famous name or why I had it, he was trying extra hard to be professional and stick to his protocol. Even if no one thought of me when they heard my ancestor's name they soon would. Mist formed around my paws and quickly filled the air around the gate. He seemed to notice but didn't know what to make of it. One hind-paw raising slightly off the snow he looked like he wanted to step back away from me. I'm glad I encountered just another wolf otherwise I wouldn't have had the joy of making him a little scared.
"If I told you, you'd only attack me. And that's no way to treat your future ruler." I raised my head, stepping forward. He barely caught that before his eyes went out of focus, staring into the mist, into the illusion I created. That would distract him for a while. I slipped past him close enough that my pure white pelt almost brushed his jet black one before I ran off down the slope into the valley of the alpine realm.
And now I was on my way to her former realm, the kingdom she helped raise from the ashes of Old Dnolevia and the very one she had sworn herself to protect for decades.
The clouds ended ahead, I could tell, like they were cut through in the way an escarpement cuts the land, a slopeless edge. Right below it was the realm's gate exactly where it should be. I angled my wings back and landed between the two pillars of ice that formed it, marking that this was the only way into the realm unless you wanted to deal with a magic barrier. Not even the weather could get through it but it remained entirely invisible all the same. The twin pillars curved outwards from each other, carefully carved down into smooth clear ice that made them stand out against anything else despite how unassuming they looked.
I shifted from one form to another as I landed and shivered as my four paws immediately sunk deep into the snow of the mountain-side. The shiver went up my legs to my spine and make me shake like a leaf in the wind, which tugged at my fur and seemed determined to throw me off the mountain. One step after another I made crunching footsteps in the untouched snow as I moved for the gate. I kept my head ducked down against the wind but knew I was finally there when a last gust seemed to blow all the wind away and air settled in an eerly quietness. Without the white clouds above the dark night sky finally showed through and I opened my eyes again.
I had no idea what I would find in this unfamiliar territory, I only knew what I hoped to find. My sister's son. She named him Wishbone. What a stupid name. If he turns out to be anything like my sister this journey will be all for not.
Once again I hate this form. A dragon has nothing to fear but the gods and maybe a larger dragon. A wolf in this world has nearly everything to fear. I've only heard tales of the world humans live in, wolves there sound like noble predators but in the Otherworld you may as well be a field mouse for all the good it does you. Nearly everything here is larger than a wolf, the only true born wolves are elementals or contain some powers of their own.
Of course my sister was turned wolf as well, so her son and my sons were all born as wolves. Wishbone's father, a wolf. The mother of my sons wherever she may be now, a wolf. I only hope they still had dragon blood, hope is all I have now as much as it painfully reminds me how far I've fallen.
The only powers left to me by the curse were that of the mist, and illusions. What are nothing but illusions now would be much more real if I ever return to being a dragon again. It'll have to do for now.
But I'm about to meet my opposite.
"Who are you?"
Heavens, I didn't even notice him appear. Staring at me not seven feet from my nose was another wolf. A shadow with a wolf form? That's the only way I could explain how he came from out of nowhere. Black furred with piercing eyes, one green one blue, and two lighter marks just below the one eye like scars in his pelt. Definitely a living shadow, the marks showing his past lives, his reincarnations. I wondered how much he could remember from his past lives until I realized I had spent several moments staring at this wolf without a reply.
"I take it you're the guardian?"
I felt stupid for saying it like that but I tried to keep a stoic, almost arrogant demeanor. Of course he was the guardian no one would stand at a gate in the middle of the night if it wasn't their duty. He didn't seem to know how to answer. He was clearly very young, trying to be tough and confrontational but his eyes were full of uncertainty. This is the pup they sent to replace WaveWatcher?
"I asked you a question." He said finally, not giving up any ground.
"So then you don't know who I am?" My arrogant remark came naturally.
"Should I?"
Smart kid, I almost huffed openly in amusement. "I am Dreamer."
"Why are you here Dreamer?" He asked.
No questions about the famous name or why I had it, he was trying extra hard to be professional and stick to his protocol. Even if no one thought of me when they heard my ancestor's name they soon would. Mist formed around my paws and quickly filled the air around the gate. He seemed to notice but didn't know what to make of it. One hind-paw raising slightly off the snow he looked like he wanted to step back away from me. I'm glad I encountered just another wolf otherwise I wouldn't have had the joy of making him a little scared.
"If I told you, you'd only attack me. And that's no way to treat your future ruler." I raised my head, stepping forward. He barely caught that before his eyes went out of focus, staring into the mist, into the illusion I created. That would distract him for a while. I slipped past him close enough that my pure white pelt almost brushed his jet black one before I ran off down the slope into the valley of the alpine realm.
II. MAVI
I felt a pain in the back of my eyes, everything around me turned to white and I felt frozen in place. There was an image in the mist and it slowly started to reappear again all around me. Was I in the mist?
I was quickly trying to make sense of where I was as the scene faded into view the snow beneath my paws turned to sand and dirt. The slopes of the mountains turned to a rocky canyon. Finally whatever power held me still released me and I started forward. Where had the white wolf gone? This was his doing, I knew right away.
I folded my ears back, hearing a distant roar that sounded familiar coming from behind me, behind the canyon cliffs to my back. I stopped and turned, my gaze locked on the sky waiting almost pleading for her to fly over it.
Before long she did. Giant frost-tipped wings spread wide into a seventy foot wingspan. The slender ice dragon flung herself down into the canyon as if she didn't see me. I ducked out of the way just in time and turned to her, not sure what to say or even if she could hear me. I was pretty sure none of this was real, though it was still startling.
Glacier raised her icy silver wings and fanned the fringe on her neck, spiked like a crown of icicles around her head. Pushing herself up tall on her hindlegs she looked ferocious and ready to attack, but attack who?
Another roar came as I followed her gaze and a white dragon slipped out from behind an outcropping. Contrasted with Glacier elegantly narrow snout, this dragon has a rounded nose bridge with four large grey horns on the back of her head, and two half-grown young behind her. Glacier shot forward with the speed I didn't know forty ton dragon could have, and seemed to go straight for the mother dragon's chest.
The mother dragon retaliated, and seemed to open herself up to Glacier's attack only to trap her. Her thick wide jaw bit down on the back of Glacier's neck with no mind to Glacier's spikes. She thrashed her head back and forth, making Glacier recoil, flaring her wings. It was only now I noticed that the white dragon had no right wing, but instead had a large scar from shoulder to flank. The mother dragon was covered in many other scars, and not that I could accurately tell a dragon's age by looks Glacier looked much younger and had no scars. But for all this mother dragon's experience, Glacier turned on her, freeing herself and snapping her teeth on the mother's throat.
Glacier fanned her wings to overwhelm the mother while she pushed her down into the sand. The mother fought against her and they tumbled at the bottom of the canyon until they looked like a mess of wings, tails and spikes. It was loud and exilerating to watch. At one point one of the hatchlings tried to join in but his mother pushed him back with her tail when she saw.
The fur stood on the back of my neck as someone passed behind me. I jumped and turned in one movement and stared up at an unfamiliar creature. Long-bodied like Glacier with short legs but if it was a dragon it didn't have any wings. It had two web-like fans on either side of its head and four tendrils hanging from its snout like the whiskers of a catfish. A creature like this seemed unnaturally far from the sea.
It moved passed me and climbed slowly down the canyon swiftly as if it had been trying to catch up to Glacier. It slid around the canyon floor on four short legs and made its way for the two hatchlings. By then it had brought them to the far side of the canyon and I couldn't see what was happening.
The fighting dragons rolled my way until they were close enough I could clearly see each of Glacier's dagger-like teeth right before they bit into the mother dragon's remaining wing. In the process of rushing out of the way I trapped myself back against the cavern wall. I ducked down and tucked my paws under me, now in the large shadow of the dragons.
Glacier was winning the fight. The white dragon's movements became slow and sluggish. Blood poored from new wounds and Glacier stepped away from her. The expression in Glacier's familiar ice blue eyes made me go cold. Glacier was waiting, staring at the mother dragon about to give the killing bite and just giving her the moment to realize it was the end for her.
Why Glacier attacked this dragon, I had no idea. Unquestionably I was on Glacier's side but even then I looked away before it was done.
When I opened my eyes I expected to see Glacier jaws dripping with blood but I was home again, snow beneath my paws and the last swirls of mist evaporating in the windless air. I didn't give myself time to process what had happened or think too long on it. I saw that I was back to the reality and sprinted down the snow covered hill.
I needed to find the white wolf before he hurt anyone.
I was quickly trying to make sense of where I was as the scene faded into view the snow beneath my paws turned to sand and dirt. The slopes of the mountains turned to a rocky canyon. Finally whatever power held me still released me and I started forward. Where had the white wolf gone? This was his doing, I knew right away.
I folded my ears back, hearing a distant roar that sounded familiar coming from behind me, behind the canyon cliffs to my back. I stopped and turned, my gaze locked on the sky waiting almost pleading for her to fly over it.
Before long she did. Giant frost-tipped wings spread wide into a seventy foot wingspan. The slender ice dragon flung herself down into the canyon as if she didn't see me. I ducked out of the way just in time and turned to her, not sure what to say or even if she could hear me. I was pretty sure none of this was real, though it was still startling.
Glacier raised her icy silver wings and fanned the fringe on her neck, spiked like a crown of icicles around her head. Pushing herself up tall on her hindlegs she looked ferocious and ready to attack, but attack who?
Another roar came as I followed her gaze and a white dragon slipped out from behind an outcropping. Contrasted with Glacier elegantly narrow snout, this dragon has a rounded nose bridge with four large grey horns on the back of her head, and two half-grown young behind her. Glacier shot forward with the speed I didn't know forty ton dragon could have, and seemed to go straight for the mother dragon's chest.
The mother dragon retaliated, and seemed to open herself up to Glacier's attack only to trap her. Her thick wide jaw bit down on the back of Glacier's neck with no mind to Glacier's spikes. She thrashed her head back and forth, making Glacier recoil, flaring her wings. It was only now I noticed that the white dragon had no right wing, but instead had a large scar from shoulder to flank. The mother dragon was covered in many other scars, and not that I could accurately tell a dragon's age by looks Glacier looked much younger and had no scars. But for all this mother dragon's experience, Glacier turned on her, freeing herself and snapping her teeth on the mother's throat.
Glacier fanned her wings to overwhelm the mother while she pushed her down into the sand. The mother fought against her and they tumbled at the bottom of the canyon until they looked like a mess of wings, tails and spikes. It was loud and exilerating to watch. At one point one of the hatchlings tried to join in but his mother pushed him back with her tail when she saw.
The fur stood on the back of my neck as someone passed behind me. I jumped and turned in one movement and stared up at an unfamiliar creature. Long-bodied like Glacier with short legs but if it was a dragon it didn't have any wings. It had two web-like fans on either side of its head and four tendrils hanging from its snout like the whiskers of a catfish. A creature like this seemed unnaturally far from the sea.
It moved passed me and climbed slowly down the canyon swiftly as if it had been trying to catch up to Glacier. It slid around the canyon floor on four short legs and made its way for the two hatchlings. By then it had brought them to the far side of the canyon and I couldn't see what was happening.
The fighting dragons rolled my way until they were close enough I could clearly see each of Glacier's dagger-like teeth right before they bit into the mother dragon's remaining wing. In the process of rushing out of the way I trapped myself back against the cavern wall. I ducked down and tucked my paws under me, now in the large shadow of the dragons.
Glacier was winning the fight. The white dragon's movements became slow and sluggish. Blood poored from new wounds and Glacier stepped away from her. The expression in Glacier's familiar ice blue eyes made me go cold. Glacier was waiting, staring at the mother dragon about to give the killing bite and just giving her the moment to realize it was the end for her.
Why Glacier attacked this dragon, I had no idea. Unquestionably I was on Glacier's side but even then I looked away before it was done.
When I opened my eyes I expected to see Glacier jaws dripping with blood but I was home again, snow beneath my paws and the last swirls of mist evaporating in the windless air. I didn't give myself time to process what had happened or think too long on it. I saw that I was back to the reality and sprinted down the snow covered hill.
I needed to find the white wolf before he hurt anyone.
III. DREAMER
Coming soon
