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Homecomings [Archive]

Started by DragonSong, December 19, 2016, 08:59:55 AM

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DragonSong

Azalea scrambled backwards and almost fell off the ledge. "Wh-why so I only have two choices?" She tried to sound belligerent, but her voice was shaking- and she knew he could probably sense the fear coiled tight in her stomach.

"Just...let me go. I wasn't even supposed to be here, please..."

Marakai Trin

(date was supposed to be sate, wtf phone)

"Because in the end of all things, those are the only choices anyone will have. Live, and stand in darkness. Or die with the light. You can save yourself now....or flee now, and die when She comes. That is the choice you have."

He glared, and now the dark marks on his cheeks spread out to form Eldritch lines, writhing and alive, moving in time with his speech.

"Choose....or I will choose for you."

DragonSong

[Haha, it happens]

She pressed back against the stone, staring up at him. Her blood ran cold in her veins and for a moment she swore her heart stopped.

She couldn't fight him. The power rolling off him was too great, she wouldn't last more than a few seconds.

But...maybe she could stall him.

She had taken it upon herself to follow her mother's path. To be a defender of innocents. But maybe this was the best she could do- play along until someone who could defeat this threat appeared. At least if she was near him, she could watch and learn.

Heart in her throat, she whispered, "I...will stand...with you."

Marakai Trin

The daikatana lowered, slowly, and he turned his body to offer his other hand. Without warning, a swirling cloud of darkness wrapped around his fingers, flickering almost like a black torch.

That darkness held power - infectious, dangerous power. A tiny part of the essence of Tiamat, a measure of her will. Something that she would have to fight for control. But she didn't have to know that.

"Take my hand then....and welcome the darkness, as it welcomes you."

DragonSong

Azalea stared up at him for a few moments longer- then took his hand.

Pain shot down her arm and she cried out, trying to snatch her hand back...but she couldn't seem to let go.

Marakai Trin

The darkness flowed forth from Kranath, wrapping up and around Azalea's arm and disappearing into her flesh.

Suddenly, her mind would lock to the world around, and it would be as if she were in a great, dark plane, surroundings barely visible with the absence of nothing more than Eldritch flames. Her senses would be assaulted with an overwhelming feeling of wrongness, her mind filled with heated whispers of hate, torment, and anguish. Wisps of darkness would flow all around her, indistinguishable in their form, but if one listened, they may surmise the whispers emanated from them.

In the darkness, a truly massive form would emerge, features difficult to distinguish - all that would be seen would be the outline of a truly titanic dragon, covered in mismatched spikes curved like blades. From its mouth emanated a soft, blue otherworldly fog, glowing slightly.

Above this was a massive pair of red eyes, burning bright as twin suns, filled with a malevolence and enough hatred to set the world aflame.

Then all would be silent, but for a mental voice in Azalea's mind, feminine and smooth as silk.

You are Azalea...You would seek to turn this tide away from the world...even now, I can see your goals as easily as I see my own....

The great dragon stalked forward one step, cleaning a distance that seemed unlikely in his abyssal space.

But you cannot resist...You will play as the second pawn in my conquest. I am Tiamat. And you will submit to me...

And then, like a great whirlwind, the darkness would be blown away, great dragon and all, to reveal reality once again.

Kranath held her hand still, unprivy to these proceedings. At arms length, he stared at her unblinkingly, waiting for her reaction, the transfer of power complete.

DragonSong

The half dragon was frozen, not even breathing as the world went black and cold around her. She wanted to run, to scream, to fight back, to so something, but she was held immobile.

If wasn't until the real world rushed back in around her that she felt she could breathe. She gasped and pitched sideways, barely managing to brace her hand on the rock beside her to keep herself from cracking her skull against the stone.

"Wh-what...why?"

Marakai Trin

Kranath held a grip still, staring at her through eyes now colored red, his face expressionless before a single brow slanted upward.

The marks and darkness of his eyes, one would note, was gone.

"....what do you mean, 'why?' What did she say to you?"

DragonSong

Azalea snatched her hand back. Ignoring his question, she spat, "What was that? Why did you...?"

Her stomach roiled and she suddenly twisted away, retching as her body tried to expel whatever had just happened to her to no avail.

Marakai Trin

"That...was Tiamat. The Dread Queen. And I didn't - She did. I gave you a small portion of her essence. A small piece of her power. To live in the darkness....the darkness must live in you. Or it will consume you. All I did was give Her the opportunity to accept you...and since your mind is not broken...it would seem as if she has."

His hand laid down at his side, relaxed. Slowly, the dark marks reappeared on his face, fading into view as the piece of power he had given her, once lost, grew full again.

"The physical ailment you feel is your body attempting to adapt to the very essence of death and fear. I know not the power you will get...but it will be great."

He turned away from her, then, and took several steps away.

"You may even become as powerful as me...if you don't fight it. If you do fight it....well, you'll get a reminder every now and then why you shouldn't. And it'll be alot worse than what you're feeling right now. Trust me....I know. I fought her once, for so many years did I fight her....but the power she gives is endless. All you have to do is give in."

DragonSong

She stared at him in silence, breathing ragged.

"Why? What does she want?" she asked quietly after several long moments.

Marakai Trin

"From you? I cannot say. Her will is Her own - I simply carry it out. But her goal...her goal is, ultimately, to darken the world for her Children, the denizens of the dark. At the end of all things, the world will be left only for us and Her."

He looked to her again. "Do not remain prostrate on the ground. Stand, and be strong. Feel the power now within you, and revel in it."

DragonSong

After another moment of trying to get her bearings, Azalea awkwardly got to her feet. She certainly didn't feel strong- she felt lost and nauseous and terrified.

She stared at the other dragon, eyes blank as shivers rippled her frame. Her body seemed to be shutting down, physical and mental shock setting in.

Marakai Trin

"Relax.  If you don't, you will die. Breathe as you normally would. It may even help if you transform - dragons have much more vitality than humans, anyway."

Kranath was getting impatient - he wasn't a helper, he was a killer. If need be, he'd simply put her out of her misery.

DragonSong

Azalea shook her head, but it was more a gesture of shock than denial. Her knees almost gave out and she squeaked, taking her dragon from.

Her legs were no stronger when she had four of them, and she collapsed to the stone. However, she seemed to be able to get her bearings better in this shape and managed to clamber back to her feet. She focused on breathing, her sides working like a bellows and she closed her eyes.

What had he done to her. "I- I have to go," she whispered, unable to form another conscious thought. "I have to go home..."

Marakai Trin

Kranath snorted derisively, turning away and crossing his arms over his thin chest. It was a moment before he spoke.

"Fine. Fly off, and whimper like a whelp until you waste away to nothing - that's your concern, I care not. But, if you survive....you'll know how to find me, if you use your gifts."

In a movement that was barely perceptible, he was then almost thirty feet above, standing on a story ledge, looking down at her.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. Don't resist."

DragonSong

Azalea scrambled toward the edge of the ledge, flaring her wings wide before she launched herself out into open space.

She didn't look back, just flew like her life depended on it. She wasn't even sure she knew which direction she was going, but gods she hoped she was headed home.

Marakai Trin

(-pokes this thread- YOU WILL LIVE AGAIN!!!)

Kranath smirked as Azalea's form eventually became naught more than a diminutive dot above the horizon, and turned away.

"She's strong...she'll be back." He chuckled darkly to himself, and vanished with a sudden burst of speed, leaping from mountaintop to mountaintop.

She is strong, my pawn, but you must watch her. She is not to be trusted...not yet. But in time, she will break.

"Indeed. We shall see what happens when she returns."

DragonSong

[Lol]

It was three weeks before Azalea returned.

She tried to stay with her father, home in her village, but it was too painful. The memories and the distance between them only seemed to have grown, and with a darkness curling inside her it was too much to bear.

So she left, intending to return to her new home, to the capital, but something held her back. She found herself making continuous stops, camping in the shadows of the mountains, then in the mountains themselves.

Finally, she somehow found herself back where she'd first met the dark dragon. She honestly had no idea how she got there, but somehow she was standing near the top of one of the higher peaks, staring around in bewilderment.

In human form, she stalked to the edge of her ledge and looked out over the jagged mountaintops, wind ripping at her hair and clothes. "Where are you?!"

Her voice echoed back to her.

Marakai Trin

From behind her came the whispered word of night, an echo of her fears.

"I'm here. I've been waiting for you to call for me."

He stepped from the shadows behind her, eyes glowing balefully, staring holes in the back of her head. "I see you're still alive...how does the darkness treat you, half-breed?"