Zephyria was laying and reading her book in the orange glow of the early morning. Asher had finished cleaning his gear the day before and was sleeping the morning away under her wing. Zephyria had scarcely slept the night before, too excited to have a good book for the first time in weeks. This book might be one of the best I’ve ever read. Zephyria’s reading was cut short by a knock upon the side of the stable. She turned her head and saw a very self important looking man in a decoratively dyed outfit and barely any armor. The strange mortal gave Zephyria an extremely shallow bow and said in a feminine voice, “The Cardinal Guard requests your presence at your earliest convenience, you can find her at the town hall. Do not delay.” The fancy looking messenger turned on a time and walked away without another word.
Asher crawled out from under Zephyria’s wing and with a voice laced with confusion said, “I only caught the end of that, what did she day she needed us for?” Zephyria growled softly, “You heard the entire order, the messenger didn’t say.” Asher looked annoyed and confused. “Surely the Cardinal Guard, Petra, doesn’t think she can order us around with no information right?” Zephyria rumbled in amusement, “Then let us go see what she wants, perhaps she doesn’t have a death wish and simply sent a foolish messenger.” Asher sighed and shook his head, “You only spoke with her at the gate, I met with her yesterday. She’s more reasonable than most dignitaries I’ve met, but she still might as well be nobility. Those in power get so used to being the one with all the authority they begin to forget to treat people as people, and not tools. She probably already sees us as weapons to deploy in the defense of Rannoch rather than a visiting dragon and her companion.” Zephyria growled softly before Asher softly said, “Just try not to kill her. She’s competent.” Zephyria gave him a surprised glance and tilted her head. Asher spoke before she could, “If she thinks she can tell my dragon what to do, she’s in for a rude awakening.” Zephyria purred in amusement, “Your dragon?” Asher laughed “And I’m your human.”
Asher started putting on his combat gear as he spoke more softly, “I’ve been happier following you around than I have since I was little, Zeph. My family exiled me, and nobody would take me seriously as a mercenary. I was dying a slow and pathetic death before you showed up. If this results in us being chased out, I can’t bring myself to really care. They’re only depriving themselves of our strength by disrespecting you.” He patted Zephyria on the side affectionately, “We can learn about our bond anywhere, or through sheer experimentation and determination. But I’m siding with you over some idiot who let power get to their head.” Zephyria nuzzled his chest, “That reminds me, I spoke with someone who claimed to be a High Warlock of the Fists. He taught me some things. He spoke of the chosen and it reminded me of our bond. It is worth investigating further, if we can.” Asher looked at his hands, stretching his hands out and looking them over. “Pretty sure I’m still human, not some dragon hybrid, but its worth looking into at least. Might get us closer to the truth.”
Armored, armed, and prepared the pair set off towards Cardinal Guard Petra and her summons. Under the glow of the golden hour Zeph steadied herself as best she could. I must remain calm and not let my temper get the better of me. Walk away if I must but I can’t kill the woman.
As the pair reached the town hall a guard outside waved for them to wait and ran inside to fetch the Cardinal. Zephyria murmured, “At least they had the decency to not force me to squeeze inside, I would have broken them and their building without meaning to.” Asher laughed.
Cardinal Guard Petra stepped outside with the High Warlock that Zephyria had spoken to yesterday just behind her. The Cardinal nodded and began speaking authoritatively. “Good, you’re here. I have a report of a particularly large monster north of here.” She handed Asher a scroll that had been tied shut. “You will be flying the High Warlock of Justice here to assist you in slaying it.” To everyone’s surprise, including Asher’s, Asher growled and put his hand upon the pommel of his blade. Zephyria spoke softly, but with dragon flame in her voice, “You are making a grave mistake, Petra. I will give you one chance to rectify your error before things become.. complicated.”
The cardinal guard put her palm on her own blade and said with anger in her voice. “I don’t believe I did, Great Patron. It is the duty of all to assist in the defense of a settlement, and that includes the Patrons. You will be-” Zephyria growled deep and low as Asher tensed. Zephyria snarled out, “I gave you your chance, girl. You are delusional to believe you can order a dragon to do what you want her to do. You are lucky I am patient and reasonable, far more so than any other dragon or else you would be dead. Do not-”
The High Warlock of Justice dramatically drew his blade and it crackled to life with an energy Zephyria didn’t recognize. He spoke with fire and brimstone in his voice, “Great Patron Zephyria, I ask that you forgive Cardinal Guard Petra for her slight and refrain from killing her. I believe I understand where her misconceptions lay.” Petra looked amazed that she wasn’t being automatically sided with, the High Warlock continued “Cardinal Guard Petra, you are correct in your assertions however you fundamentally misunderstand the dragon’s presence here in your jurisdiction. She was not sent by the Fists of the Forgotten, nor does she represent any warlocks that reside here. It is my understanding that she is not a Patron at all, quite yet. Yesterday we had an insightful discussion about the nature of Warlocks and the Fists. Do you understand what I am saying, Cardinal Guard Petra?”
Cardinal Guard Petra looked at the warlocks blade that was pointed more towards her than the furious dragon in front of her and swallowed hard. She ran a hand along the pommel of her blade in a self soothing motion and finally said, “I understand justiciar.” The High Warlock sheathed his over sized blade and spoke to Zephyria directly. “My sincerest Apologies for the misunderstanding, Dragon. However, the threat remains. I will not force you to fight if you do not wish, however it would be a great help with the fortress rapidly growing in power. Any threat that we can eliminate now is one that will save lives.”
Asher leaned against Zephyria with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Zephyria spoke more kindly to the High Warlock. “I am always interested in a good fight, however I do not know you, nor like you, enough to allow you to fly with me. That is a privilege reserved for those that I trust. I am not a beast of burden to ferry warriors about.” The Warlock nodded, taking the statement at face value. “That is understandable. Since you seem to trust the pact-breaker, I suggest taking him along. There is safety in numbers, even if you could almost certainly handle it alone.”
Asher frowned deeper, saying, “Conall?” The high warlock nodded and said, “Yes, him. Since you seem to trust him for whatever reason despite his past, he would make an appropriate ally on this trip.” Asher scowled at the Warlock, “I’m not sure I appreciate what you’re implying. He has not shared his past with us, but so far has been nothing but reliable.” The Warlock looked surprised, “Then I would force him to share it with you before you take him anywhere. He is unreliable and prone to fits of hysteria. Whatever he may tell you know that his story has been officially denounced by the Fists of the Forgotten. I have personally visited his previous patron and found it to be a typical forest guardian.”
Zephyria growled at the man and said, “That is a decision we will come to ourselves, warlock. We will hunt this beast, the rest is none of your concern.” As she turned around she lowered her head so could Asher hook onto her horn and swing onto her back. Once they got far enough away Zephyria craned her long neck to look at Asher sitting on her as she spoke softly, “What do you make of what the warlock said? You have spent more time with Conall than I have.” Asher sighed, “I think we should just ask him. He’s been nothing but reliable and honest with us so far, its not like we’re discussing our pasts with him openly either.” He ran a finger across the stubble on his chin. “Perhaps we should all just lay our cards on the table with him. If he agrees we all just share our pasts. And then decide if we want to keep working together from there. I quite like Conall and I’d like him to stay around, but we can’t force him, of course.” Zephyria gave a non-committal rumble and said “I will trust your judgment on this over mine. But for what it worth I like him as well, I would not have let him fly with us otherwise.” Asher gave her a few pats on the back of her neck and then looked around. “Only issue, is that I’m not sure where he is. He said he would be shopping for new gear today, we got paid pretty well for our work and he said he needed a new blade.” He gestured towards a road to their side. “That way towards the smith’s area. They’re separated from everyone else due to the noise.” Zephyria padded off towards the direction her human pointed, her tail swaying lazily behind her.
Only a little bit of searching later had them finding Conall, fortunately. They found him with a brand new blade in his arms wrapped in a cloth. Seeing them, Conall immediately walked over and spoke brightly, “Greetings Asher! Zephyria! It is good to see you! I was told you were being sent on a mission today and thought I wouldn’t see you off.” He unwrapped his new blade from its cloth and showed it off as Asher dropped from Zephyria’s back to get a better look. “Enchanted! Will hold an edge far sharper than any whetstone could achieve, and hold that edge even if I must strike stone. I’ve never owned anything so nice, and its thanks to you two.” Asher whistled softly as the blade gleamed in the light, “That’s a gorgeous blade.”
Asher rubbed the back of his neck, and said, “But, that mission is actually why we came to find you. We’d like you to come with, if your willing.” Conall nodded intensely, but before he could speak Asher held up a hand and said, “However, we have been keeping too many secrets from each other to keep working together. We were hoping that if we told you our stories, the true ones, that you would tell us yours.” Conall’s face dropped and he looked like a kicked dog, “Someone told you about my last patron, didn’t they?” Zephyria spoke up, saying, “The High Warlock said that you were prone to fits of Hysteria and claimed your story to be a lie.” Conall somehow looked even more deflated. “However, considering I was restraining myself from killing him on the spot I am not inclined to believe much of anything that man has to say.” Asher laughed at Zephyria and said, “What I believe Zeph is trying to say, is that we had a bit of a disagreement with the Cardinal Guard and the High Warlock, and we will trust you to tell us the truth.”
Zephyria purred in amusement. “Asher growled at Petra.” She let out a draconic laugh, “I’m incredibly proud.” Conall looked surprised. “Setting aside the fact you growled at the Cardinal Guard and got away with it, I thought humans couldn’t growl? Beast-kin barely can, something about how our throats are shaped to let us talk.” Asher frowned, “I don’t know, I didn’t think I could. I’ve certainly never heard a human growl before, not like that. It seemed so natural I haven’t even thought about it till now.” He shrugged a little helplessly. Conall followed up saying, “What about the ‘disagreement’ with the cardinal guard?” Zephyria spoke with a slight growl in her voice, “She thought she could tell me what to do. The fool.”
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Conall shook his head and sighed, “You two are confusing.” He looked at Zephyria seriously. “All of that nonsense aside, you’ve earned my trust Zephyria. I hope I can be worthy of yours. Before we can all spill our guts to each other, I need to get a new sheath for my blade. Its longer than my last one. I just need to pick it up from the leather worker I commissioned. Shall I meet you two at the Inn?” Zephyria and Asher nodded, and they parted ways.
The golden hour of dawn had faded into the early hours of the morning. The sky was clear, the day was warm, and Zephyria was getting impatient. “Where is that warlock? I wish to hunt today, not wait around for a mortal.” Asher laughed and rubbed the scales on her neck. “Calm yourself Zephyria, I’m eager to test myself against a real threat as well but we need t-” Conall stepped into the courtyard outside of the stable and Asher whistled. “Looking good, wolf. The new armor suits you. You look dashing in it.” Conall rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and said, “Thank you, Asher. I’m sorry for taking so long but the straps needed adjusting.” He looked at Zephyria as he spoke now, “Your so quiet it's incredible. I figured if I was to travel with you more I should make sure my gear was as quiet as possible. I can’t claim to be any good at sneaking, but its better than clanking as I move.” He rapped the firmly secured metal plates on his breastplate with a knuckle and they hardly made a sound.
Conall looked more serious now, “Do you.. Want me to talk about how I abandoned my previous patron before we leave?” Asher walked up and placed a hand upon his shoulder- comfortingly. “We can talk about it on the way. I trust you, Conall.” The wolf man looked embarrassed and said quietly, “Thank you, Asher. It means more than you know.” Asher nodded and gave him a warm smile and then swung onto Zephyria’s back. He held out a hand and pulled Conall up with him. Within moments Zephyria had bounded into the air and was flapping hard to get to a comfortable height. Conall hugged Asher tight as they soared into the air.
Asher was the first to talk once they were airborne, saying, “Zephyria, head that way. The map Petra gave me says it should only be a few hours.” He turned towards Conall and said, “I told you we would tell our stories first, and I’ll keep to that.” Asher began to tell his story. How he was a noble in a house of pyromancers and how he couldn’t conjure flames. He spoke of how he was exiled because of his lack of talent, and eked out a meager life as a mercenary. “My twin sister was particularly cruel. She was a prodigy, a talent even among talents. She was given everything, spoiled by even noble standards. Last I heard she was going off to join some prodigious group to be an agent of the crown or something. I was out of the family by then.”
Zephyria went next, “As far as I can tell I was adopted by my mother as an egg, and she raised me as her own. Her clan shunned her for keeping me and thus I was raised without any community... I spent a century alone in my cave, occasionally stealing books from caravans to read. It was all I ever did.” Zephyria spoke of the panic that awful night, how she found the only person who had ever cared for her dishonored and dead. She spoke of how she set off to find her mother’s killers, how she killed one of them but is still planning to hunt the others.
Asher picked up the tale next. He retold the story of the unlikely pair meeting at that river. “I mislead you before, Conall, a lie of omission.” Conall tilted his head curiously, not upset. “I let you believe it had been years since, but its only been… two weeks perhaps?” Conall gasped and looked astonished and concerned. “But-” Asher interrupted him, saying “We know. We’re too close. Spending as much time as we have together would make anyone close, but we bridged the gap far too easily. I slept on her tail the first night we met, and under her wing only a day or two later.” Zephyria picked up his story, “We share a bond we do not understand, something neither of us agreed to is tying us together. Any sane dragon would have killed Asher a dozen times over. Killed you for touching me. Not allowed mortals to talk to me as they have. This bond, whatever it is, it’s changing us both.”
The silence after Zephyria spoke stretched on uncomfortably. Conall was simply holding onto Asher’s torso as they flew silently. When Conall finally spoke it was quiet and unsure, “That’s why your here then, away from the human territories. You thought you would learn something from us.” Asher nodded, “We hoped so. Warlocks and their pacts seemed like the best bet at the time when we decided to flee Ironwood. We’ve got some leads, but this isn’t the sort of thing you can just walk up and ask someone about.” Conall sat quietly for another long minute, clearly contemplating something, though Zephyria wished she knew what he was thinking. Eventually when he spoke again it was with a firmness and surety of voice that neither Zephyria nor Asher was expecting. “How can I help?” Asher smiled and gripped the man’s arm back in appreciation while saying, “I knew you were a good man. But... I don’t know. Zephyria thinks it might have something to do with the chosen, but she already told us that the chosen never talk of how they came to be. Without talking to one ourselves we might just have to keep traveling together and finding out the hard way.”
Conall nodded and held Asher tighter for a moment. He then said, “I suppose its my turn to share my story. I wish it was as interesting as yours.” He cleared his throat uncomfortably before saying, “When I finished my training with the fists I went off to find a patron related to nature magic. I always wanted to be a druid or paladin of nature since I was a kid. To protect the wilds and the gentle beasts that inhabit it. So, when I found a nature spirit in the form of a great white horse who wished to start taking warlocks I was proud to be its first. I was proud to defend its grove.” Asher spoke gently, “I fear I can see where this is going.” Conall swallowed with a lump in his throat and continued his story, “The monster pretending to be a Great Patron began to do.. something, to control the forests in a way I’ve never heard of before. Its like it was connected to every single leaf and animal. If anything defied the monster, it killed them. Worse, it seemed to figure out a way to replace things. I saw it kill a rabbit with a spear of roots once, then watch as the rabbit rose from the dead fully healed and under the things control. It threatened to take me as well if I didn’t obey.” Asher gripped the mans hand hard, trying to give any comfort he could. “It forced me to do terrible things before I found my escape. I gave people to that.. thing. People that were never the same afterwards. You have to understand, I had no escape and it was going to take me anyways. If I disobeyed it would have forced me to do it, but I never would have had the chance to run.”
Zephyria tried to comfort the wolf-man, “I would have done the same in your claws, wolf. A dragon must do anything to survive, regardless of whom it might hurt. You did well.” Conall took several shuddering breaths before continuing, “I’m.. not sure I agree, Zephyria. But I’ll take it as you meant it.” He shook his head softly and said, “When I got away, I tried to warn the Fists. Tell them that the creature was evil and was slowly expanding and consuming anything in its path. But they wouldn’t believe me. That creature, it used the people it took to weave a convincing enough story to protect itself. Now everyone thinks I’m some lunatic who had a mental break and ran away. But I’m not, you have to believe me.”
Asher began to say something, when Zephyria spoke sharply. “Quiet, Asher. Conall? When you were before the creature after realizing its true nature, did you feel anything that didn’t quite make sense? Feeling like you were stood before death itself, or a crushing sense of hopelessness that was more than you should have felt in that situation?” Conall was confused and stuttered. Asher cut in, “What is this about Zephyria? You seem intense about this and I don’t get why.” Conall finally responded, “I- I suppose I did? But you weren’t there, didn’t see what it could do. Anyone would have felt hopeless before it in my situation.”
Zephyria spoke sharply with determination in her voice. “Little dragon. Wolf. Listen to me. Dragons were blessed by the gods to be the shield between the mortals and the horrors of the void. Our scales resist its influence, our magic destroys it, we can sense it from far away with incredible accuracy. However, there is one aspect of the void’s corruption that proved impossible for even the dragons to entirely destroy. They are known as seeds, and they sound like what the wolf described. They are subtle, silent things. Influencing the mind of their victim to consume, corrupt, and expand the void’s influence. They worm beneath the victims soul using it as a cloak, hidden from all. Worse, they do the same to those they take continually writhing and consuming the souls of anything that it can and twisting them to its purpose. Its only weakness is that once its nature is known, its stealth vanishes and the aura of terror all void beasts exude becomes unleashed.” Asher broke in, “Zephyria, wait! Slow down. Say your right, and the world is once again under threat by the void beasts. What can we even do about it? You’re one dragon without a clan, and half the reason we came here was because we were weak. We can’t fight something like that, not yet at least.” Conall spoke up as well, “What? Asher’s right. That’s even worse, we can’t fight something like that, it owns much of the forest! We would have to burn the entire thing down, wouldn’t we?”
Zephyria growled in frustration. “I know. I know! But it is my duty to search out and destroy the threat of corruption wherever it may be found. I cannot ignore the possibility, we must take action.” Asher growled at her back, saying. “What if we just got close. If just knowing its evil is enough, then surely if you got close enough you would sense it? If its a void beast then we flee until we are strong enough to destroy it, and if its not then we can assess the situation from there.” Zephyria growled in frustration again. “No. We cannot. The senses work both ways, it will sense a dragon close enough to it that it will begin to fortify and bury itself the ground once again. If the old stories remain true we will only have a few days before it hides itself beneath the ground too far for anyone to reach only to pop out again after a few centuries somewhere else to begin its foul corruption once more.”
Conall interrupted this time, his voice slightly panicked. “Zephyria, isn’t there a clan of green dragons somewhere around these lands? Surely you could petition them for help.” Asher nodded and voiced agreement. Zephyria spoke feeling defeated now, “Not without proof. They would kill me on the spot for trespassing if I didn’t at least have a chunk of void tainted flesh with me to verify my claims. They would think it a trap otherwise.” Asher voiced his thoughts once more. “These things expand really slowly right? In order to keep quiet. That means we don’t have to rush as long as we don’t alert it. The best thing for us to do then, would be to grow in power until we can face its might in a skirmish. We fight it once, take a chunk of it to the green dragons, and use that to convince them to destroy it before it can hide itself. You will never be able to fight it alone, no matter how strong you get. But if you change your goal to only being strong enough to wound it, then you could have an entire flight of dragons at your command.”
Zephyria snarled but kept quiet. After a moment she spoke with frustration lacing her voice, but in a far more calm manner. “It pains me more than you know to ignore this potential threat. But, I see the wisdom in your words once again, little dragon. We will go with your plan. I pray to the gods that we are wrong and it is simply a tricky beast.” Asher nodded. “Hope for the best, plan for the worst.” He scanned the forest below and then checked the map Petra had given him earlier. “Its not like any of this matters right now because we’re nearly at our target anyways. We’re looking for a shallow but wide pond, or lake perhaps. We have a giant beast to hunt.”
