Dark Mirror: Clans

[saphira]

luna awoke the next day at least she thought it was the next day and it was then that she noticed that the only source of light was a very dim glow from herself and a wall of something glowing. she got up and approached the wall, still somewhat drowsy, of what seemed like liquid flowing floor to ceiling. it gave off immense heat."could it? no it can't be no dragon has the ability to control it not even fire dragons. but if it is there's no way it would naturally flow like this." but just to be sure she flicked a pebble using her tail at the wall. The pebble glowed white hot until it melted and became a part of the wall. luna proceeded to curse momentarily using some of the foulest words she knew. Then the wall of lava parted and something walked through it. she leaped back momentarily dazed then realized it was a dragon. she immediately took a defensive stance with her jaw fully open to reveal her exceptionally sharp teeth.
--------
tukali had just received his meal for breakfast. he was about to dig in when he felt a twinge of guilt. he knew luna had not meant to kill those dragons she had simply passed out. how he knew this was he had been sent to tell the dragons not to threaten just ask for support and when he had arrived it was to late he had been the who had found and woken her, he who had told her to run. and now she was captured. he didn't care that he was not to feed her, after all what was one meal to him versus what it meant to her, for him a mere convenience, for her it meant the difference between surviving and dying. so he parted the wall of lava and walked in frightening the dragonness. "calm down i am a friend, here eat." he said sliding the food towards her and closing the wall of lava behind him. he looked at luna not with pity but with immense sadness. that's when she recognized him."wait your the one who,-" she said but stopped he cut her off,"yes i am, and now i must leave." he said turning around and walking out,"but wait don't leave me. why are you here i thought you where different." she yelled after him before her cry could be muffled by the wall of lava.

[Kauria]

"I think you meant to say, 'Let go of my mind, or I will fall into lava and die,'" Metrus snorted, pivoting in midair with the last modicum of restraint his emotion-battered body possessed, his neck straining with tension.
And then the shadow dragon screamed, his frustration and anger and utter fury at having wasted his one good spell climaxing and escaping on a hoarse roar whisked away by the sooty wind. His wings stroked furiously back to the fire warrior he had left behind, a broad black halo of ash and death marking her location for hundreds of meters around her. Metrus climbed briefly higher and plummeted back to the site of their fight, slamming hard into the scorched ground. He advanced on Tara.
"You," he snarled, his speech torn by unaccustomed anguish, "you do not understand what a war is." His voice became choked for a moment. "When your clan numbers its dead, may your carcass be among them!" Metrus spat at last, breaking into a charge aimed to pin his opponent's throat beneath his claws.

[Nohiki]

Tara swung her hand and blocked the blow, locking their arms together. "You,"she growled in a deep voice, akin to rocks falling down a hill, "have awoke the anger of those infinitely your superior." she said as her claws sank into the shadow dragon's flesh in one of her trademark moves, "And when we march through your glassed and burnt homes-" she continued, dangerous orange sparks forming in her throat as the herbs the healer gave her started to take effect and replenish her inner fire, "There will be no one left to count!" she yelled ands thrusted her other hand forwards, going straight for the windpipe.

[Zetherus]

Before Thoron could even notice what was happening he saw himself in a dark void hearing Lok'tus' voice, "You would sacrifice yourself to the one you love? A question that an old friend of mine was asked before his passing. Unfortunately he was never asked "Would you use the one you hate to save the one you love?" That was the cause of his death!" suddenly mist started to form from the black voided ground then an endless plain of of ghostly hills surrounded Thoron. The air was still but hollow as the black dragon started wondering the lifeless wastes, walking on the moist wet cold dirt beneath his solid black feat. "What is this place? This is not the battlefield I was just in!" Asked Thoron while he jumped from the ground and began gliding through the air calm like he was never calm before in this evil lurking plain. As he flew for hours in an aimless pattern, he saw a massive wall of black smoke before him. He landed on a hill with a single dead tree with the remains of a skeletal dragon beneath it when he figured that he could not progress any further. He looked at the dead dragon then saw a flash back of Blaze lying there as the corpse, then when he tried to look away, he saw the others around him as skeletal remains scattered all around in pieces. "What the hell is going on?" He whispered but when he did it came as an echo across the hollow land. "This is your dream... The question I'm about to ask you now. Would you summon the one you hate to save the ones you care for, even if he is the one that claimed so many innocent souls?" The voice echoed through the black wall before the god slayer. Thoron started growling at the distant wall now witnessing the void before him materializing into a repeating plain like the one he was in. He continued to growl until he saw a massive creature making the black dragon look like a hatchling standing upon a hill staring down at him. "Lok'tus." spoke Thoron under his own breath as it echoed across the land mysteriously as before.
i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb101/zidanefantasy/rp%20summons/bone_demon_ca.jpg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfZjUN2QBxc&feature=relmfu
"So this is really you Lok'tus." Said Thoron as he looked up at the huge creature. Lok'tus shifted his huge body to bring his massive head down at Thoron's level. "Are you going to answer me or should I answer for you?" The black dragon looked back at the dead others behind him then to the vengeful spirit questioning him one last time, "I know you what you really are Reveren and what you are capable of! Why should I truly believe you would stop this fight and save the fire clan?" Lok'tus gave a skeletal smile then answered, "By giving them all immortality and endless knowledge of life!" Thoron backed up and shook his head in disbelief. "You can do that, save them all from killing each other?" The spirit responded in a deep evil growl, "Of course!" The black dragon was convinced and said "Yes!" so Lok'tus took control of Thoron's body to keep his promise. They will soon get their immortality and peace like Thoron wished for them.


Back in the lava pool Thoron's eyes opened while he rested at the bottom of the inferno lake. He brought his right hand up and gripped the side of the wall he rested on and started climbing up. Moments later he arose out of the lake covered in magma and crawled onto the shore. As he rested there for a moment when a fire dragon ran up thinking he was dark clan until she noticed it was the dragon that saved her life. The black chard dragon looked up at her with closed eyes like he was seriously injured making the dragoness feel that she should try to help him. She was able to stand the creature up during the chaos and drag him to an outpost in the middle of the fight. Nearby in the distance was Metrus and Tarra fighting. She helped the dragon inside then set him down near the healers table where he opened his eyes and began to look around. His stares were odd and frightening as he looked into every dragon soldier's eyes there in the defense line. The fire dragoness met eyes with his then asked, "Are you alright?" then she saw something odd in his very soul that was death, but not his death.

The possessed Thoron laid motionless on the gravel as the fire dragon tried to help him but got no answer out of him. Lok'tus was waiting for the right moment to strike.

[Kauria]

Metrus inhaled sharply at the pinpricks of pain between his knuckles, but shifted his free hand to the defensive to deflect Tara's blow. "Case . . . " he gasped, managing to redirect most of the attack's force away from his throat, although three new scratches glistened on the back of his arm. "In . . ." Metrus lashed the heel of his hand up again, switching from defense to offense in a heartbeat and aiming to snap his opponent's head back long enough to expose her neck once more. "Point!" He lunged with jaws open, despite the pain, despite the weariness, despite everything. She was regaining strength, so he needed to end this quickly, or his opponent would do it for him.

He would survive. He was the last of his bloodline. He was destined to survive. He would survive, even if he had to take another's strength to ensure it.
If this last attempt to subdue her enough to leech her vitality failed, he would try to steal her life regardless of the chance for failure.
And if that failed—well, he would do anything to leave the battlefield alive.

[Nohiki]

OOC: As promised : www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7zTSUy9apg&feature=relmfu

As Tara's head flown up from the sucker punch. The muscles in her back contracted on instinct, lifting her to her hind legs. Still, she felt rows of teeth (and sharp ones) on her neck. Relieved to hear an empty snap afterwards, she looked - and subsequently came crashing - down. She jumped away a few meters quickly, uncomfortable with how close those jaws were. "Do you really think you can win on my terms?" Tara said, but she was getting tired, and her brain was still little numb from whatever spell was casted at her. She has to hold on for a little bit longer before she can end him once and for all.

[Kauria]

The fire dragoness reared away from Metrus' attack, then sprang back the moment her forepaws hit the ground.
Metrus snarled in frustration and redirected his wasted momentum to throw himself to the side so as to give himself more space. The landing jarred his injured shoulder, but he struggled into a defensive stance nonetheless.
"Do you really think you can win on my terms?" His opponent's words stung with truth.

No, he thought.

But it was all he could do. He'd wasted his energy trying to take over the giant dragon. His only attack that had proved effective had been the shadow beam, right at the beginning. If only . . .
There was nothing living on this elemental-forsaken plain, nothing even dying in his immediate area he could use to fuel his powers. Through luck or strategy, the fire dragoness was now keeping him too far at bay to even make an attempt on her.

That leaves . . . me, he thought, a heavy stillness sinking onto his mind.
It was crazy. He splayed one hand across his chest, stilling his shaking claws. He closed his eyes and briefly hoped it wouldn't kill him, then started the spell. Pain shimmered around his wounds, burning, tearing, eating at their edges, and he gasped, but warmth and power shot up the length of his arm. Metrus opened his eyes, feeling at once weakened and renewed. He sighted his opponent, leapt into the air with a flap of his wings, and fired a streaking, sizzling, bolt of deep maroon energy at her, no longer seeking to subdue, but kill.
That's all I've got left, he thought grimly.

[Nohiki]

OOC: Let's finish whateer fights you have finished so we can move the story ;P

Tara was shocked by the sight that was in front of her eyes. She has underestimated the determination of this particular individual, and now it was proving fatal. Too late to dodge, the beam hit her straight into her chest. She was knocked away several body lengths, before landing flat on her back, knowing that inside she was already dead, having about two last minutes before her mind shuts down. "Even now, red clouds converge on your home..." She growled in deep, bone freezing voice. I will see you soon, brother, mom... she thought, making her last prayers. Just as she felt herself slipping away, the ground around her rumbled and swallowed her whole.
---------
With a large gasp, she came back. Was brought back. She yelled as she felt enormous pain in her chest, curling into fetal position. "Why?" She cried out. "Because you are my golden goose, noone else gets beat up as much as you. It's in my best interest that you stay alive. So - consider this on the house. I also got a nice reward for saving the artifact you had on your hand." Drahon said, as he struggled not to fall from exhaustion. The pain was getting weaker as Tara's insides healed. "The battle?" she squeaked. "You should have seen your clan after you went down. If they call me fury, that was pure rage[/]. It was not long after that the shadows were beaten back to where they came from. Dead or alive, you manage to moralize the warriors like no one else." Drahon explained, taking a sip of one of his potions to replenish some of his strength. Tara smiled weakly at that. They were safe. She will have another round with her shadow nemesis, and this time, she will not be taken down by surprise. She tried getting up, but realized soon that was a very bad idea. "give it a few days." the druid said, moving to other patients.

[Zetherus]

A FEW HOURS AGO DURING THE FIGHT...
The fire dragoness tried her best to wake Thoron but nothing could wake the beast. She sat down looking hopeless until she saw his eyes slowly open and turn to her. She jumped up and placed her right paw on his neck and whispered, "Are you alright, do you need help?" Thoron slowly lifted his head off the ground and looked at her responding slowly and painfully, "I- don't know what I have done... You- you are that dragon I saved." a tear ran down his scared eye when he recognized the dragon. "You need to get out of here- run to your homes. YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF MY PATH AND TAKE YOUR COMRADES WITH YOU... NOW!" The black dragon yelled as he lifted himself to his feat suddenly ignoring the burn wounds all over body then stood up straight like a human slowly rising his head to he sky. He closed his eyes while growling horribly as his snout aimed to the red volcanic clouds deliriously continuing his painful warning, "I have no control now. I can feel him taking me over, his anger, his LIES he just promised." Thoron opened his eyes while blood started flowing out of his tear duct, "You will all die!" he gurgled as his blood ran down his neck. The fire dragon gasped when she saw the blood and his burn wounds heal right before her gaze when suddenly a shock wave blasted her from the giant's vicinity. Everything went slow to her when she flew through the air and collided into the wall far on the other side of the court. The dragoness recovered then lifted herself out of the ruble to sight the nightmare just in time. The god slayer's body started steaming when his eye sockets set ablaze with blue and red fire. He brought his taloned hands and started tearing at his own flesh as he roared to the red sky. The fire dragon soldiers turned at the beast when they heard his roar and aimed their spears at him finely feeling suspicious that this dragon is no ally anymore.

Thoron stopped roaring and tearing at himself when Lok'tus fully took him over making the battle sound quiet ever before. The giant dragon then dropped both his arms limp and slowly brought his gaze down to look at the clueless soldiers around him. One of the soldiers yelled to their lieutenant, "Orders sir? He don't look friendly no more!" The dragoness ran into the center to stop her soldiers and ordered, "Stand down, he is an ally! Do not attack him." Thoron slumped down on all fours and crept up behind her while showing his teeth at the dragon unnoticed while she tried to preserve her hero's life only to leave herself open. She turned to face the black dragon only to get her neck punctured suddenly by his massive jaws making her scream in terror when he started biting into her flesh. The soldiers rushed forward and began stabbing him into his belly and chest trying to free their leader only to find out it was hopeless when their weapons did no damage to him. Thoron stopped tearing into the female's chest and neck getting distracted by the group's attacks leaving the poor dragoness he saved lying in her own pool of blood still breathing luckily. He stared at the soldiers around until he started laughing with an evil dark growl following behind his voice, "You are going to pay for that mortal, with your FLESH." The giant jumped off of the fire dragoness and lunged forward with open jaws grabbing one of the soldiers before him by the neck and taking off into the skies. Some of the soldiers followed after him to try and save their brother, the others stayed to try and save their suffering lieutenant.

The chase was on. Thirteen soldiers followed as close they could trying to free their comrade. Thoron now the corrupt Lok'tus killed the dragon in his jaws and descended down to where Tarra and Metrus were fighting landing a good distance away from their gruesome battle. The possessed creature began to devour the dead fire clan and already his wounds began to heal instantly, even his organs that were damaged was healed. The soldiers surrounded him cursing at him as a demon, a monster, then when they all tried to strike. The beast emitted a huge shock wave that blasted them all into different directions, some in which got heavily injured by landing on unsafe objects. The monster turned his attention onto Tarra and Metrus a few hundred feet from him and smiled with a dark look in his inferno eyes. He walked up to the two growling horridly as blood ran off his body and pattered on the ground beneath him. When he got close enough and halted in the smoke of burning corpses cloaking his form, whispers from hundreds of souls in Thoron's very own, victims of Lok'tus, tried to call out to the fighting dragons to warn them of their eminent danger. "The Corruption is spreading. Run, run away... run... run... RUN, don't hurt this possessed soul... please or you will die...!" Voices of many different souls rang into Tarra and Metrus' ears as the beast stood there staring at the two through the smoke waiting for his chance to ambush the both of them.

PRESENTLY...
A moment later when the fire dragoness called Tara was about to fall to Mretrus, an amazing display of power erupted from the fire clan and caused unexplainable things to happen. The battlefield was torn inside out and the dark ones were vanquished by the incredible fire clan force. Thoron on the other hand awoke several hours after the battle heavily injured by Lok'tus' uncaring behavior in some odd place full of injured dragons. He was covered in bandages in the areas that were burned and his body barred to the ground from moving. The only difference about his hospital bed is that it was surrounded by metal bars and fire dragon guards.

OCC: Thoron was captured hours later lying under tons of rubble by the fire dragons witnessing his crime when he attacked their leader. He is now being healed to face his crimes of murder and attempted murder to the fire clan court. You get to decide of Thoron's punishment Nohiki just no executions. XD

[Morty]

Vorun limped across the blown field in the aftermath of the battle, three long gouges across his upper arm. Rearing up in his hind legs, he heaved, and managed to flip one of the dead bodies over. Then, he circled around to inspect the face. The eyes were wide open, whites visible around the contracted pupils. Flies had gathered around the mouth and nostrils, and the tongue lolled to one side, spotted with maggots. Vorun grimaced. "Old fool... Never were one to miss out on a fight." he mumbled, brushing the flies away so he could close the dragon's eyes. He carefully rearranged the body so that it lay in a more dignified position, then sat, shoulders bent, by the dead dragon's side. After a long time, he turned his back on the field of corpses and slunk away, his course set for the catacombs.

[Nohiki]

OOC: Is this acceptable?

Tara was pout for a week. On the seventh day, she finally got enough strength to take a short walk. Her chess was still one big purple hematoma and hurt, but with the healers' care, her bones were one piece again, and she couldn't stay lying around another day. She still had a slight limp in her right arm, so a nurse was at her side.

She immediately headed for the library. "On your feet I see?" Silvermane noticed, not raising his head from the map on his table. "I see you aren't untouched yourself." Tara remarked at a new scar over her master's left eyebrow. "Better than you, though i see modern medics can do wonders." Tara left that without response: "What did I miss?" "Things escalated quickly. That one engagement broke into an all out war. the front right now is several clicks long along the northern ridge. also that halfing friend of yours turned insane in the middle of the battle and nearly killed another gal. He's in jail and the Alpha wants your opinion on what to do with him. And finally, one of the ice clanners have been here for a WEEK. We think he might be evaluating who to ally with. He might want to talk to you too, but the medics aren't letting anyone to you." Silvermane shrugged. Tara rolled her eyes: "Why am I so important all of a sudden? Point me at something and i'll destroy it, that's what i do. YOU deal with human resources."

Tara went to the Alpha right away though. The nurse had to support her half of the way as her arm was starting to ache too much to support her weight. "You wanted to talk to me?" She asked when the door shut behind her. "Indeed. Are you aware of the problem?" Zil'Caron brought up. "Yea, but why ask me? I met the guy twice, i don't have much more intel than you." she shrugged. "The elders were giving me this for the past week, and dismissing me that i should ask someone more qualified. Well, you're it. What do i do with him?" Tara sighed: "You exiled me for something like that. Thanks by the way. Why not take that as precedence?" Zil nodded: "That works with me. thanks. You can go, get yourself into one piece. I need someone for beyond the line ops, and there's none like you. Dismissed."

She went back to the ward. By the time she got there, her heart was racing, she was sweating and completely exhausted. "This sucks." Drahon came by: "What did you expect? you caught a death ray to al major organs. It's a wonder you're able to stand. Get into that bed and take a good sleep. Tomorrow we might try some rehabilitation." he said. Tara nodded, but she wouldn't sleep for long time.

[Awesomoman]

"Wow. Wow wow WOW!" The energy dragon began to clap. "Now THAT was a show!"
"I must admit, t-that was intense." Frost replied, "Now lets g-g-get out of here, before someone-"
"HEY YOU!" Too late. A fire dragon spotted Frost. "Oooo, tough break. Well, nice knowing ya."
"What?"
The energy dragon teleported away before the fire dragon got there. "Th-th-that son of a...Hey there." Frost greeted the dragon.
"What in the name of the elders are you DOING here? Did you not see what just happened?"
"I uh, came here to visit a friend. But the b-b-battle broke out and i was f-f-forced to hide." Frost lied. Telling someone you came to see their friends and family get slaughtered wouldn't exactly be a good conversation starter. He didn't seem to buy it though, he gave Frost a death glare.
"Really? Who would your friend be than?"
"Uh...Well, you probably don't know her," Thinking quickly Frost described the fire dragon he saw up at the Ice Fortress. This made the fire dragon give him an almost disgusted look,
"Are you talking about Tara?"
Sure, well go with that. "Yes, T-t-tara."
"O, kay. I'll go let her know you're safe."
"No that won't be necessary. I'll j-j-just go and tell her myself. You keep, doing whatever you're doing."
The dragon now had a Are you serious look. "Alright, your funeral."
"Thanks." Frost walked past him and headed to the Fire Fortress. It was getting late and traveling in unknown parts was dangerous enough, staying one night wouldn't hurt.
Thats what he thought, a week ago. But since the first moment he got there, he hated it. The aftermath of everything was a nightmare, bodies still lying around outside, watching injured dragons struggle to even breath, Frost hated the idea of getting his clan involved in any of this. But what could he do? He could already tell he had worn out his welcome, fire clan had enough to take care of without him mooching, but if he went back, Ice clan would want a full report and once he gave it they would no doubt choose a side. How easier it would be if he could just up and leave everything, not have to worry about any of this war, just keep living like he had. He laid in the guest room, trying to figure out just what in the hell he was going to do.

[Nohiki]

When Tara woke up again, her vision was a blur, and she could barely hear. Muffled voices around her muttered a lot of medical stuff she wouldn't understand on her good day. This was far from good. She noticed three red blurs at the edges of her viewcone. Nurses. Worried. Bad. she only thought, as they sent for Drahon again. The earth clanner appeared as a gray stain staring her into the face. Then she felt a sharp rapin in her wrist, and then it was dark. She woke up again after some time, feeling slightly better, but running a fever that couldn't have been healthy even for a Fire dragon. She also notices she had a brand new line of stitches on her side where it hurt previously. "A shrapnel we missed on the first pass." a nearby nurse explained. "Gave you a bad infection, but you should be getting better now." Tara didn't remember much from the past days now. She remembered there was a big fight, talking to the alpha, and then this. "What day is it?" she asked dumbly. "A week from the battle still." She nodded and sunk back to the improvised bed. She noticed she wasn't on the ward anymore, but in the main hall. Apparently the ward was needed for more severe cases. It looked bad. They pushed them back, but the cost was terrible. She could see through the main gate bodies still lying on the battlefield. Everyone was too busy tending to the wounded survivors. And there were many to tend to. And in the middle of all this, there was a blue figure walking down the hall. "I think i might be hallucinating." She noticed to the nurse. "Nope, that is an ice dragon. Claimed you know him." Tara tried to remember anything from her little trip to the north. "Met him, but hardly know. Might wanna call the guards. 70:30 he's a spy." she said, but then changed her mind and pulled a small red coin with flames drawn on it from out of nowhere. She still had the special assignment designation and she wasn't officially relieved of duty yet, even though she saw the alpha. "Tell him it's talking to me or to the guards." she said. She could barely sit how powerless she was, but all she wanted with this guy was talk. If he was here to gather information, perhaps she could somehow convince him to have the tundra dwellers help them. Because if they won't and the dark dragons manage to break through and make another push within a week, the fortress will fall for sure.

[Kauria]

(OOC: The first part of this is seven days prior, just so y'all know.)

Metrus sulked, his head resting sideways on his fingered forepaws while the healer made another pass over his wounds.
The heavy clack of claws on stone signaled the approach of another dragon, but Metrus didn't turn. There was a deep, wheezing gasp, like air escaping a crypt, and the scent of deep sand and dry scales washed over the shadow dragon's back. "So," an unnatural, rattling voice began, "You aren't a complete failure. That's good to know."
"Thank you for the compliment, Mother." Metrus continued to stare at the cave wall in front of him. "And the backup."
Hectel gave a deep laugh. "You're protected by prophecy, boy. Nothing's going to kill you 'til you've found yourself a mate." She coughed. "I don't get that guarantee."
Metrus tensed at a brief stab of pain where the healing magic brushed past his own destructive spell's effects. "Good . . . to know you're willing to stake my life on a soothsayer's words," he said through clenched fangs.
He felt the healer pull away from him at last. "All fixed, ma'am."
"Good. You can go, but see to it that my son doesn't leave the cave before someone's taught him a proper healing spell." Hectel settled down beside Metrus with a creak and a clatter. "Now, why did you have Villemek release that wingless fellow from scouting up north?"
Metrus broke off into a string of ancient curses, trying hard to hit his head against the wall despite his lying down. "Desperanus, I forgot all about him! Could you—"
"I already had someone let him know you've been a bit indisposed. Though why you've let yourself become nestridden by a few scratches, I'll never know. Havera lost his head, and he's fine."
"Havera's been dead for seventeen years, Mother. And I just needed some time to recover from the emotional toll of that battle." Metrus rolled over indignantly to face the dracolich that loomed over him.
"Your personality's made it through in one piece, I promise you. What did you want with the spy?"
"None of your business," Metrus mumbled into his arm.
"It's my business once you start raiding the family hoard to purchase his payment, or once you start giving orders in my name."
"It's . . . a surprise," Metrus said, his eyes sliding again to the bare rock wall. He felt his mother's glowing gaze scrape across him.
Unexpectedly, Hectel stood again. "It had better be a good one, boy. I could use some good news. Needed it ever since the Alpha died." Her skeletal tail swished around the corner, and Metrus' mother was gone.
He heaved a sigh of relief, turned over, and went to sleep.

------

Nearly seven days later, Metrus crouched over the last in a long line of injured dragons, a better-trained healer supervising him from where she sat by a feverish warrior.
He placed his hand over an open cut, inhaled deeply, and drew on his magic supply. The liquid sense of power surged into a tingle of life energy and wove its way out through his clawtips to seal the wound in the opposite of his usual conversion technique. Metrus lifted his hand away to watch the healing spell complete itself, scales reforming smaller and shinier over the gap of flesh. He stepped away and looked expectantly to the healer. She arched her neck to better view his work, then nodded slowly.
At last. Hectel had been entirely serious about restricting him to the cave. Perhaps her faith in the seer's wisdom didn't go quite as deep as she claimed.
Metrus stretched his wings in the red light of sunset, then took off towards the nearby shadows of the catacombs.
No sooner had he stepped through the ruined arches than he had sighted a slim dragon bearing the telltale scroll cases of a messenger. "Could someone find Vorun for me?" he called.

[Morty]

Vorun was roused to wakefulness by the sound of claws padding on a dirt floor. He lifted his head and saw a dragon walk through the door to his barren quarters, the cylinder on his chest heralding him as a messenger. "What is it?" he asked the visitor, sliding to his feet, the dust still clinging to his scales.
"You have a message, from Metrus." replied the dragon, removing the scroll from its holster and handing it to the other.
"Metrus?"
"Yes. Ah, old bloodline.. Hectel's son?" the messenger said, noting Vorun's wary expression.
"Oh right. Of course," Vorun perused the scroll, nodding. "Well, well.. It's about time. Thank you, messenger." The dragon bowed and went away.
As soon as he'd gone, Vorun retreated to the darkest part of the room, and disappeared.
Minutes later, he was at the meeting place. He looked around for the other dragon, then surfaced, the darkness clinging to him like a veil.
"I have word you're in need of my services." he said, emerging from the shadows, where previously there had been nothing.