The Dragon Children: Second Generation

[Phantom_Sorano]

OOC: Quick post!

--Resistance Camp--

Nefron shook his head in disappointment at Jason.

"You can't lie to me that easily, Jason, so if you are, try harder. If you have no decent business here, then I suggest you leave."

--Adelphe--

Aaliyah slowly gathered herself to realize what had happened. Quickly embarassment flooded over her as her son rushed to her aid.

"Yes, Rapheal dear, I'm fine. Just tired is all. I need to get back to Krangor soon. Your sister is still down there."

--Heilgrad--

Incompetent fools...how did her Mother put up with this? Or so Adarah wondered at the coming of her intruder. She was in the middle of a big plan, after watching around the Resistance Camp when a girl and her dragon caught her attention.

"They could be powerful soldiers indeed..."

The dark goddess snapped her fingers; instantly a decayed batlike creature appeared.

"Take message to the rider and dragon Aristocles and Chrysanthe: their Dark Mother has a mission for them, and with it comes great power and reward."

[Derek_Is_Me]

Jason held no love for Nefron. But he did respect the old beast. Thats why he would give him a simple answer. Something kind but truthful.

"Fine, you wish to know what I want. I want to know if you hold anger towards me for old wounds in the past. And if so why? But if you do not hold ill will in your heart for me. Then I am here for something else. I will only tell you if you anwer me. Do you still hate me for making a mistake?"questioned jason.

'Be wary of him little one. He is a crafty old beast.'stated Arashi calmly.

[Edward]

A scream of pain shot out into the night.

We have an intruder thought Yalasna.

I just noticed. I'm going to check out the noise. You alert Eruan and Saphirra, if they haven't noticed allready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's a girl. And a white dragon. And a zool. That's odd. Perhaps I should report this to Nephron. What do you think Yalasna?

No, that's Eruan's job. Just keep watch on her for now.

Good idea. thought Alen, getting into a defensive stance, in case the intruders came toward him.

[rocklobster]

--Joanne and her family--
Joanne brought her bedroll over to where Ai was. She motioned for her children to come near to her, so she would know they were safe.
As she unrolled her bedroll, she turned to Ai. Memories came rushing back of finding Ai in a basket on the doorstep and how she'd taken Ai and raised her as her own daughter, just as the note on the basket requested. In fact, Ai was such a part of the family that even Reika had taken to calling her "big sis" for as long as anyone could remember.
"Ai, would you like to try learning how to step into the astral plane. It won't affect how you sleep and it's time you learned. It's the best way to receive instructions from Adelphi."
OOC: Have Ai agree and have Anei come closer to either Eruan or Alen, whichever you desire.
--Minerva--
"Can I at least make your breathing easier?" Minerva asked. "I am sorry, but I detest seeing anyone suffer needlessly."

[Twister980]

A scream pierced the night. Eruan's eyes shot open, he sat up, frantically scanning the camp, trying to find the source, He saw a dragon heading towards him, probably to tell him about the sound. 'Kind of late for that now...' he thought. Then he looked towards the edge of the camp, he noticed a white dragon, and it's rider, who was obviously in pain. He could tell because of the zool stuck to her leg. He pulled out Bedaestael, and took off towards the edge of the camp. He reached the girl, slipped the blade between the gap in the zool's jaw. The zool cried in pain, then it grew limp. He carefully pulled the teeth from the girl's leg. He glanced up at her. "I suggest finding a spot to rest. I'll have to see if I can find a mage, or a doctor." He stood up. 'Saphira, can you sense any mages nearby?' 'No, the presence of all these dragons is overpowering... I cannot.' Eruan growled. 'Alright, fine. I'll just have to look around.' He nodded to the girl, and ran back into the camp.

[rocklobster]

OOC: You can bring Anei to Minerva, Twister. She's good at healing.

[Twister980]

Eruan asked around, it was after the third try he finally got the answer he needed.
"You need a healer? Well, there's Minerva, she's over by the boy, Trevor." Eruan ran towards Trevor's camp, he saw him, and Minerva outside the tent. He tapped Minerva. "We have an injured rider. I'll take you to her." He took her to the girl. "This girl was attacked by a zool. Do you think you can patch her leg up?"

[Ally-Ann]

=Aristocles and Chrysanthe=

Aristocles opened his eyes, sensing someone was near him and Chrysanthe. He looked down at his child, noting that she looked like she was in a deep sleep, and sat up gently so as not to disturb her. He turned all of his senses on and looked about. He could hear quiet flapping noises. "Who is there? Show yourself," he said in a low voice that could scare a demon.

"I am a messenger for Adarah. She has a mission for you," a bat-like creature said.

"What sort of mission?" Aristocles asked, shaking Chrysanthe's shoulder to wake her.

"Let's just say you will be rewarded greatly," the creature replied. Chrysanthe stirred and her eyes fluttered open.

"We accept," Aristocles said, speaking for himself and Chrysanthe. Chrysanthe sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Hn? What do we accept?" She mumbled before looking at the odd creature. "... H-hello..."

"Follow me," the creature said. "We have a ways to go." Aristocles looked at Chrysanthe and tossed his slightly behind him, signaling for Chrysanthe to hop onto his back. Chrysanthe did just that, if a bit sluggishly from still being tired, and forced herself to keep her eyes open. Aristocles began to flap his wings, lifting himself off the ground as Chrysanthe wrapped her arms lightly half-way around his neck to keep steady. Aristocles looked at the creature and nodded.

"Lead the way," he said before the creature took off over the trees. We could be seen easily if we go over the trees like that. Aristocles thought. He sighed before deciding it couldn't be helped since he needed to catch up to the creature before he lost track of him. "Chrysanthe."

His child yawned. "What?"

"Keep your eyes and ears peeled. We're going to stick out like a sore thumb in a minute," Aristocles informed before shooting towards sky then over the trees. At least it's dark out. That'll help a little bit. Aristocles thought, glad that his scales were black. Chrysanthe held on tighter to her dragon's neck and her eyes widened when they shot up toward the sky. But once they were soaring in a straight line over the trees, she relaxed a little more.

"So what are we leaving for? Was it not safe?" Chrysanthe asked, much more awake now from the startle.

"It seems that Adarah has given us a mission. And being the polite dragon that I am, I don't want to make her wait longer than necessary," Aristocles said, dropping a little closer to the trees so that they wouldn't be as noticable.

"Adarah has given us mission? D-does that mean that I'm going to meet her?" Chrysanthe asked with wonder in her voice.

"Perhaps, Chrysanthe, perhaps. I wouldn't doubt it," Aristocles replied, slightly amused at Chrysanthe's eagerness to meet Adarah. "But for now, I want you to focus on keeping watch while I fly. I don't have eyes in the back of my head."

"All right," Chrysanthe said, carefully turning around so that she could act as a second pair of eyes.

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Berenike had been nearly asleep, mostly dozing, when her eyes shot open and she sat up, looking aorund the camp. Something seems off, she thought, standing up carefully so as not to disturb the rest of the Resistance. Her eyes scanned over the scan and before they narrowed when her sight rested on the tree tops. She could make out a dark dragon flying over the trees and the glared at them. Where are you going? She wondered, imediately recognizing who it was. Stay away from us. She thought as she layed back down, though keeping her eyes peeled for anymore possible danger.

[Edward]

Seeing Eruan rush towards the girl and her dragon, he decided to follow. There was a zool, and it had bitten the girl in the leg, but it was quickly dealt with by Eruan's sword. Alen, knowing just how tough a zool could be, stabbed it in the heart with the spike end of his pollaxe. Alen followed along with Eruan and the strange girl, asking her if there were any other zool following her and apologizing for no helping her. "I'm sorry. My eyesight isn't the best, and I couldn't see that you were injured in the dark."

Satisfied that he had done his best, that there were no other zool nearby, and that the girl would be okay, Alen returned to Yalasna.
What was it?, she asked.

I don't know. It was a strange-looking girl. Her hair was black on one side and white on the other and her eyes looked red. She had been bitten by a zool. It's dead now, and the girl is with Minerva.

Were you injured?

No, I'll be fine. Goodnight.

Goodnight.

[rocklobster]

OOC: Could everyone helping Anei out wait until Diamond Dragon posts again? I don't want her getting confused.

[Diamond Dragon]

ooc: Thanks Rock!
BIC:
-Anei-

Everything happened so fast that Anei was slightly dazed from both what happened and the pain of the bite. Anei! Anei, are you ok??? asked Len worriedly from beside her. Yeah...just...fi- before she could finish the thought, Anei slipped into unconsciousness.

-Ai-
Ai's eyes widened. "The astral plane? Really??" she asked excitedly. "Yes, I want to learn!"

[Edward]

Alen had still not fallen asleep. He was gazing into the sky, admiring the twin moons of Krangor as he cleaned off Hochsturm, the pollaxe. It's beautiful, isn't it? The night sky? he asked Yalasna.

She glanced at him, then looked up into the sky as well. Yes. Yes it is.

OOC: Hochsturm is the name I came up with for my pollaxe. If it were a real German word, it would mean highstorm. I thought it was fitting since my character has a lightning dragon.

[Twister980]

Eruan growled as the girl fainted. "Let's get her to my tent." Minerva said. Eruan scooped the girl up in his arms, and followed Minerva back to her tent. While they were walking, he took a good look at the girl in his arms. Her head was tilted to one side, he could see long white hair. Then he shifted her head, and noticed her hair had split, not literally, but in color, it was raven black on the other side. He began to wonder how this strange girl came to be here, then remembered her Dragon, so he called to it with his mind. 'Do not worry about your rider, I am taking her to the medical tent.' Finally, they arrived. He placed the girl on a cot inside the tent, and left. He still had to watch over the camp, even if his curiosity was overpowering his sense of responsibility. 'Saphira!' he called out, she snorted. 'You woke me up, little one. What is it?'
'Well, I just rescued a rider, from a zool.' He said, heading towards where he last left
Saphira. 'On your own? That's no easy feat for a hatchling.' He finally made it, she was
curled up on the ground, her dark blue eyes blinking at him. 'So, what do we do now?'
She closed her eyes, 'I sleep, you watch.' Eruan climbed up into her back, leaning against one of her spikes, then patting her on the back.

[Diamond Dragon]

Len was surprised that someone other than Anei could speak to him telepathically. Thank you... he called after Eruan. Then the went to the tent and poked his head in, and nuzzled Anei worriedly.

[rocklobster]

OOC: Minerva doesn't have a tent, BTW. She prefers to sleep under the stars.
--Minerva--
Minerva placed a gentle, feathery wing on Anei's leg. Poor child. she said soothingly. Let's see if we can make things better. She sent healing energy into Anei's leg. Within moments, the wound was sealed.
--Joanne--
Joanne reached into her cloak and pulled out an elaborately designed coin that was as shiny as a prism. Rainbows surrounded it. It was difficult for anyone to not be captivated by it, which was its purpose. Reika and Xavier did their best to look away, because they knew what Joanne was going to do next. Joanne showed the coin to Ai.
"I want you to keep your eyes firmly on the coin and listen only to my voice. Inhale and exhale slowly."
OOC: I'll need you to start Ai's trance, Dia. I'll do the rest.

[Diamond Dragon]

-Ai-

Ai obeyed her mentor and kept her eyes on the coin. It wasn't hard, really. It was so beautiful... Soon it was as if the only things that existed was her, the coin, and Joanne's voice.

[Twister980]

OOC: Minerva doesn't have a tent, BTW. She prefers to sleep under the stars.

OOC: Didn't know, sorry.

[rocklobster]

--Minerva--
Minerva stepped closer to Len to get a closer look. She thought there was something familiar about the white dragon.
"I thought so! My hatchling! You've returned to us!" She tearfully nudged the dragon awake so it could look into its mother's eyes.
OOC: Let's have Len not yet recognize Minerva.
--Joanne--
Joanne smiled as she saw Ai enter her trance. The fact that she considered Joanne her mother made it all the more easier for Ai to trust her.
"Very good, my child." she said soothingly, so as to keep the trance intact. "You are now under my complete control. There is nothing here but the coin and my voice. Keep inhaling and exhaling slowly. When I snap my fingers, we will leave our bodies and enter the spiritual realm. Sophia awaits us there."
She snapped her fingers.

[Diamond Dragon]

ooc: You read my mind Rock. XD

Len suddenly came awake to another white dragon gently nudging him, and saying something about her hatchling. "What? Hatchling?" He asked, confused.

ooc: Hey, what does the spiritual realm look like?

[rocklobster]

ooc: The spiritual realm is actually of Adelphi, where Sophia and the angels live. You can see a vast garden, similar to Eden, with all the life that existed before the fall. So, just describe what you think the Garden of Eden looks like.
--Minerva--
"Many years ago, you were taken from me and Nefron by Pandora to be Adarah's pet. I see she failed to corrupt you fully. That is why you probably don't remember me. I am your mother, Minerva."

[Twister980]

Eruan's ears twitched, they were getting cold. He rubbed his shoulders, it was cold out. He strained his ears for the slightest sound, he picked up bits and pieces of conversation from other tents, but one caught his attention. It was from Minerva's tent, which was only a yard, at the most, away from where he and Saphira were. He hopped off her back, and strolled towards the tent. "Many years ago, you were taken from me and Nefron by Pandora to be Adarah's pet. I see she failed to corrupt you fully. That is why you probably don't remember me. I am your mother, Minerva." Eruan almost tripped over his own feet. 'Without even knowing it, I reunited a mother and son?'
He took in a deep breath. 'Wow. I did something right for once. Unexpected, but right.' He smiled, then stepped into the tent.

[Diamond Dragon]

ooc: Ok, thanks Rock!
BIC:

-Ai-
Ai couldn't feel her body anymore. She felt like she was floating above a lush garden filled with all sorts of flowers, trees and plants, all circled around a lake. Ai gasped. It was all much more beautiful than the coin Joanne had.

"Adarah's pet?" asked Len, eyes wide. He didn't remember anything like that. The only thing remembered was hiding around Adarah's castle, not sure why he was there. That was right before he had met Anei. Maybe Anei shouldn't tell anyone about her being Adarah's sister yet... he thought.

[rocklobster]

--Minerva--
Minerva saw Eruan come in.
Thank you, child. I am forever indebted to you. said Minerva. However, I must ask you to do me a favor.
--Joanne--
"Welcome to Adelphi." said Joanne. "So, ready to meet Sophia? I thought I'd personally congratulate you."

[Diamond Dragon]

Len suddenly sat down. It was too much to take. Minerva was her mother, and he had been stolen from her to be Adarah's pet? How come he didn't remember? Len shook his head. It's no good, I don't remember... he said to both Minerva and Eruan, a sad and confused look on his face.

-Ai-

"I was born ready." said Ai confidently, but not without a quiver of excitement. It was all so wonderful it was almost too much.

[Masquerade1412]

Trevor was going to accept Minerva's help when Eruan came with a wounded girl. Soon, everyone was focused on the girl. Trevor took two steps. He crashed onto the ground, shaking from his body temperature dropping. Revel quickly grabbed him and carried him into the forest. Gotta find a safe place...Here! He laid Trevor onto the stump, keeping one hand on his neck and the other on his chest. Revel concentrated, focusing the heat into the palms of his claws. Trevor's convulsions gradually weakened, and he soon was breathing normally. There....That should keep him steady for a while... Revel curled up next to Trevor, wrapping his tail around the boy. It's been a long day....Rest for now, kid....I have a feeling it's going to be a long night.

[Twister980]

Eruan raised an eyebrow, looking between both dragons. At this point, he was more comfortable speaking out loud to the two. "No problem, Ms. Minerva. Now, what did you need me to do?"

[Ally-Ann]

=Aristocles and Chrysanthe=

Chrysanthe looked at around, making sure that no one was following them. She could see the hill better now, even though they were flying away from it. Different tents were set up and some of the larger dragons were moving about. She noticed that a dragon had carried his boy into the forest quickly. But Chrysanthe couldn't see it very well for that long, as her dragon was flying rather fast. She squinted, trying to catch a glimpse of Eulalia and her dragon if they weren't sleeping in a tent. But it was impossible to see from where she was, let alone in the dark.

"If you tell me where it is, I can just use magic to get Chrysanthe and I there quicker. I don't know exactly where Adarah dwells, but I know it's far from here," Aristocles said in a slightly irritated voice.

"Well, why didn't you say so? It's a place called Heilgrad," the creature replied. Aristocles nodded.

"Chrysanthe, turn around, lay down on your stomach, and wrap your arms around my neck. You're in for a ride," Aristocles said, waiting for Chrysanthe to turn around. Chrysanthe turned around and did what Aristocles told her.

"What do you mean I'm in for a ride?" Chrysanthe asked. But her question was answered when Aristocles chanted a short, quiet spell under his breath and with a flash of light, he, along with Chrysanthe, was rocketed forward into a realm of dark colors mixed with streams of lightning.
The feeling of going at such speeds with dark magic was an unearthly one to Chrysanthe. It felt like a dream world, and it felt like a cold knife was being held to her stomach. Her whole body felt like massive amounts of pressure were trying to compress her into a tiny ball and she found it hard to breathe. Just when she felt like she was going to suffocate, she and Aristocles were jerked to a stop and were no longer shooting through the dream world-like realm. Instead, they were infront of a dark-looking castle. Chrysanthe took a deep breath and breathed slightly heavily for a moment. "Wh-what... was... that?" She was thankful for air and her body didn't feel like it was being crumpled up.

"Teleportation with dark magic. It felt like it was minutes, when in fact it was actually just a few seconds in real life," Aristocles replied simply. "You will get used to it." Chrysanthe's breathing slowed to its regular pace.

"Did the messenger come, too?" Chrysanthe asked, looking about. She smiled when she saw the creature clinging to Aristocles's wing, as if he were a statue.

"H-h-here we are..." the messenger said, a look of utter shock from the teleportation still plastered to his face. "H-Heilgrad."

Aristocles flapped his wing hard, making the messenger fall off with a loud 'oof'. "Hn."

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=Berenike and Eulalia=

Eulalia ran through the woods, covered in sweat and blood. Her whole body ached and every limb felt like it could fall off from exhaustion. I have to keep running! But I should fight... No, no! Not in this condition! I need water... Eulalia continued running, but she could hear her attacker getting closer and closer. Suddenly, without warning, a piercing pain shot through her left shoulder-blade. "Ah!" Eulalia stumbled and fell face forward into the dirt before using her right hand to grab whatever had shot into her back. She yanked it out uncarefully, wincing, and saw that it was an arrow coated in a strange color. "What is--" She was interrupted by something crashing on top of her. Eulalia looked up in a daze and could tell that it was... "Chrysanthe!" Eulalia cried out before dodging a knife that her would-be friend swung at her.
"I hate you," was all that came from Chrysanthe's mouth as she threw blows at Eulalia that were blocked.
"Wait! Chrysanthe, I-- Ngh!" Eulalia bit her lip in the middle of the sentence when a burning pain tore through her shoulder-blade and quickly made it's way to her arm. What is this? Eulalia jumped up onto her feet and kicked Chrysanthe in the stomach just hard enough to get her away for a few seconds. Eulalia ducked from an arrow that was shot towards her head before kneeling onto one knee in pain. The pain from her arm and shoulder-blade began to spread throughout that rest of her body like wildfire, eventually making it to her neck and up to her head. "AAAAHHH!" Chrysanthe gripped her head and fell onto both of her knees. Amongst the pain and heavy breathing, she could hear footsteps walking closer to her. She looked at the feet and looked up, staring into the dull eyes of her attacker. Chrysanthe pulled out a sword and held like she was going to swing it at Eulalia. Eulalia looked at the sword, then Chrysanthe, and her eyes widened when she realized what Chrysanthe was going to do. "Wait! Please, Chrysanthe, DON'T--"
"You had your chance. It's gone." Chrysanthe swung the sword, and it seemed as if it were in slow motion to Eulalia. The sword hit her neck and--



"NO!" Eulalia sat bolt upright and crawled at lightning speed to Berenike. She clung to her dragon's arm and Berenike was startled awake from her sleep.

"Child! What is it?! Are you hurt?! Is someone attacking?!" Berenike asked, putting her claws onto Eulalia shoudlers.

"I-it's too late!" Eulalia cried, tears flowing like a waterfall down her face.

"What's too late, Eulalia, what?"

"I can't save her, I can't!"

"But you can--"

"No, I can't! I'm done for!"

"What on earth are you talking aobut, child?! You're right here!" Berenike exclaimed. Eulalia paused her sobbing and looked up at Berenike, a slightly confused look on her face. Suddenly, Berenike knew what was wrong. "You had a nightmare didn't you?" Eulalia looked at the ground for a moment in thought.

"I-it seemed so real. It just..." Eulalia said before breaking down into sobs again and hugging Berenike around the neck. Berenike stroked Eulalia's back gently like a mother would.

"Shh, shh, it's all right," Berenike said calmly, not liking that someone so confident as Eulalia was capable of breaking down from a nightmare. "You'll save her. I promise."

[rocklobster]

OOC: I'm going to assume that Phantom_Sorano still wants me to temporarily take over her characters.
--Adarah--
An image of Adarah appeared to Chrysanthe. "I had to lead you away from Jessla Mountain. That horrible place is sacred to the enemy. I can not even set foot there." the image explained.
OOC: Have Chrysanthe kneel and pledge her allegiance to "Mother Below." (that's what Adarah's followers address her as)
--Joanne--
As Joanne and Ai continued on to Sophia's palace, the angels of Adelphi greeted them. The palace was made entirely of crystals. Rainbows seemed to emanate from the walls.
When they came to the palace, two guards stopped them.
"We are here to see Great Mother." said Joanne.
"Of course. As her adopted daughter, you are always welcome." said one of the guards. He handed the two of them 2 pairs of glasses. "These will stop the lights of the castle from blinding you."
Joanne handed one of the glasses to Ai. "You'd better put this on. Sophia's presence can blind you if you are unprepared."
--Minerva--
"There are only two reasons Len would've been able to come back to us." Minerva explained. "This child is either a prisoner of Adarah or her half-sister. In any case, I think we should not treat her as an enemy. Can you keep my suspicions a secret? I would like to give her the benefit of the doubt until we learn more."
She leaned down and whispered into Anei's ear. "Awaken, dear child. You are among friends.
OOC: Have Anei awaken.

[Twister980]

"Half-sister?" He glanced at the girl's split hair. 'I sincerely hope that wasn't a pun...' He thought to himself. "Yes, I will keep your secret." He bowed to Minerva. "Now," He said, glancing out at the night sky. "I should probably get back to my watch." He bowed to Len. "I hope you can recover your memories soon." He stepped out into the night air, and started patrolling the camp.

[Diamond Dragon]

-Ai-
Ai, now really curious, took the glasses, and looked at them a moment before putting them on. The frame was made of gold, with tiny jewels embedded in them. She slipped it on her nose, then looked at Joanne.

-Anei- Len glanced at Minerva in slight alarm. Eep! she knows! My...Mother...knows... He thought, trying the unusual word in his head. Anei suddenly stirred, then opened his eyes. Then she sat upright, not sure where she was. Anei!! You're ok!! said Len, nuzzling his companion. I just had the dream again... Anei mentaly said to Len. You mean about Adarah...? Len telepathically asked. Anei nodded.

ooc: Anei hasn't noticed Minerva yet.