A Victim of a Dreadful God (Private: Xan)

Xangor wasn't surprised to hear that Solstice was indeed a Goddess. A creature that looked so powerful could only be a Godddess. The Goddess of IceWing. He smiled at her. A smile that she would interpret as a sign of friendliness. However his smile has a different meaning. Xangor was aware to have found one of the best victims around. Solstice has already took a place in Xangor's evil plans. He wanted to kidnap Solstice, bring her inside a cave and then dreadfully torture her until she would die for desperation. No, Xangor wasn't thinking to kill her. It would be a shame to murder such a beatiful creature. Xangor could leave her almost dead, but alive. While a lot of diabolic plans were crossing his mind, Xangor knew she was probably going to be a very hard target. She was a Goddess like him afterall. He couldn't underestimate her. For now he decided to take the friendly approach and appear as a very cool dragon at her eyes. Xangor was going to use a fake personality, but perfectly recited. "I'm Xangor, the God of Night and Darkness. It's a pleasure to meet another Goddess." He presented himself, his voice showing respect and admiration. He was looking to gain her trust and impress her, but inside him he had completely different thoughts. He had no real interest towards Solstice. She was only a item to use at his advantage. His body was naturally emanating a powerful and fascinating black aura. It was pure darkness, a power that went beyond the ordinary. Xangor was really what he wanted to claim: a God.

~

Solstice smiled back. She was attempting to be polite. Solstice had never dealt with many NightWings before, but she knew very well of the darkness that some dragons can hold within them. "Hello, Xangor. What brings you here?" She asked and stood up to stretch, spreading her wings out and beating them a couple times before sitting back down with a yawn. Solstice was quite a regal dragoness. She had icy blue scales, grey-blue feathers on her chest, tailtip and wings. Bright, intelligent blue eyes. The dragoness had no idea of Xangor's intentions, only that he was a seemingly kind god of a terrifying element. She had left home for a moment to get fresh air, make a.new friend and hunt. She was getting herself into something of a terrible side. She had seven children to return to, a tribe to assist in healing.

Xangor looked with admiration at Solstice. She was a noble dragon, her body showing beatiful lineaments. Her scales of pure ice were shining. He realized this dragon was so astonishing that it would be a shame to mutilate her body. She didn't deserve a bloody treatment. She deserved something worse. Xangor was pondering to not inflict her physical pain. He was thinking to mentally torture her instead. Maybe he could do both things. There will be time to think about the best tortures. His goal was to become a close friend and take her interest. Xangor purposely walked beside her, confident that Solstice would put her eye on his body. He was a pure black dragon with silver tonalities. Xangor had a line of sharp spikes behind his back. The body was thin, but also tonic at the same time. His eyes were red like blood. Xangor was certainly a fearsome dragon, but also astonishing. He gently looked at Solstice before to answer at her question. "I'm here to explore new territories." That was a lie. Xangor only wanted to find new victims. "The sunlight prevents me from moving outside the NightWings territories. I don't have many chances to explore Pyyria, unfortunately. The winter only helps me a little." He concluded with a sigh, a bit melancholy. However inside he was smirking. Xangor exactly wanted to gain her friendship. and he was purposely looking to gain her commiseration.

Solstice tilted her head. She looked at Xangor as he moved towards her. Upon instinct, she stood up and took a few steps back. She did not intend to be rude, but to give space. And after all, months back, she had to avoid going near males all together, so it was still a thing of normality to move away a tad when one got closer to her. It was also a battle instinct. "Well, Xangor, why can't you travel about Pyyria?" She asked and preened her feathers for a moment, removing the old and tattered feathers for flight and new feathers.

Xangor careful eye examined Solstice's sudden movements. She had excellent reflexes, besides the fact she was probably used to fight. So it would be hard to get her by surprise. His mind was already doing all sorts of calculation to find the best strategy to attack her. She was going to be a great challenge and he thought for a moment to give up. Xangor was already aware about a possible defeat. However he just didn't have enough informations about Solstice. The only solution was to become her best friend and learn everything about her powers, life, routine, and possibly weaknesses. In the meanwhile Solstice would never be suspicious of him. He answered at her question. "The sunlight hurts me a lot. So I can't freely move around open environments. I can only do that during the night." He explained melancholy. It was true his life was a lot miserable because of the sun weakness, but he wasn't really sad about that. His goal was to gain her comprehension and appear as a poor dragon that was condemned to never see the world during the sunlight.

Solstice frowned. "That sucks. I guess being the God of night and darkness means no sun for you." She said with a small laugh. "Anyway, the sun kind of hurts me too." She was rather careful to not tell him her weaknesses... yet. She felt it was only important information should the subject of her weaknesses come up. Such as if it was right in front of her face. But Solstice had a large weakness: fire. It hurt her both mentally and physically as a hatchling, and it still screws with her head.

"Exactly" Xangor nodded at her words. He was a bit surprised to hear the sun would hurt Solstice. However it makes some sense. Ice tends to melt under the sunlight, so she would suffer a lot hot temperatures. Solstice was certainly weak against fire, as every IceWing afterall. He wondered if the ice dragoness was also scared by fire. This information would be very useful. Xangor couldn't himself generate fire, but he could create a realistic illusion. He wanted to discover how Solstice would react in front of a bad situation. He looked into Solstice's eyes, smiling. "It looks we share the same weakness. Maybe we have some traits in commons." Xangor kept using a friendly approach, but he was already working on a mind trick. Solstice would feel a sort of little headache because her mind was being invaded from Xangor. However at her eyes it was just a little headache. Something that can happen. Once the illusion was ready, Xangor looked towards the sky with alarmed eyes. "Watch out! We aren't alone" He alarmed her.

A group of fire dragons was flying above the forest, roaring and breathing fire everywhere. It was indeed a numerous group. They were looking to conquer that territory. The fire dragons immediately flew towards Xangor and Solstice. They were looking to attack and chase away any dragons around.

(This is a illusion. Let me know if you would like I change this post.)

Solstice gasped as a panging headache began. Suddenly, fire dragons appeared out of nowhere. "But they just appeared..." she muttered. She remembered something through the pain in her head: NightWings can screw with your mind. Of course, Solstice was wanting to test this. She wanted to run up to them and claw and see if she can get burned. If they were real, well, she would disappear. If they weren't, Xangor's in some serious trouble. She was having issues leaving the ground due to the fact that she saw fire burning the world before her. The dragons were coming straight at her. Solstice shrunk to the ground and looked at her paws, shoulders shaking. It got closer. One suddenly approached her, breathing smoke from its nostrils. She gasped and raised both of her forepaws, clawing at the dragon's face. It blew fire at her. Fire that she didn't feel. She gasped and crouched lower to the ground. The fire... it just didn't cause pain.. but just the appearance... it terrified her. "Get them away, Xangor!" She shrieked and closed her eyes. She didn't have any burns... "Xangor..." she muttered.

Xangor was boiling inside. Solstice was more smart than he thought. She has already figured out the illusion. The ice dragon wanted to charge alone a entire group of FireWings. It meant a certain death. The only reason because she was doing that is to fade the illusion. However Solstice stopped the run, showing to have fear of the fire dragons. Xangor realized that his plan wasn't working as expected, but his goal was to figure out if she was terrified by fire. Xangor could proceed with the rest of illusion and make it even more realistic. He protected Solstice with his body from claw attacks. A fire dragon managed to scratch Xangor's shoulder. Another one scratched Xangor's leg. Blood come out. It was real blood. However the truth was different. Xangor has the ability to manipulate his own blood. So he was able to spill his own blood and create wounds from nowhere. His injuries had exactly the form of claw marks. They were realistic. "Stay back." He commanded to Solstice while he was unleashing his terryfing powers. A burst of pure darkness come out from his body, a very devastating blow. The fire dragons were blasted away, badly injured. The FireWings realized the enemy was too strong for them. So they decided to retreat and abandon the battlefield, flying away from the territory. It was the end of the illusion. Xangor's wounds were bleeding a little.

Solstice opened her eyes at the sound of Xangor's voice. He was bleeding. The fire dragons had disappeared and the world was suddenly no longer burned. "Xangor, what was that? And how are you hurt if those things were fake?" She asked and stood up, shaking herself. She summoned marigold and cobwebs and motioned that she was going to fix his wounds, which were mysteriously bleeding. She pressed the cobwebs on his scratches whilst chewing the marigold. She removed the cobwebs and applied the marigold, summoning banana leaves and wrapping them on the wounds to act as a bandage, rid of germs and keep the marigold from getting everywhere. As a final touch, she sprayed a soft healing frost around the wound, which would help. She had no idea that he was not actually injured, however, she was a healer and it was sworn by her to heal any injured dragons, no matter gender or tribe.

// The illusion was supposed to be very realistic, so Solstice can't understand it's fake. (she can suspect) I know she's very smart and intelligent, but I have the expectation she would believe the illusion. Let me know if you're fine with this, or we need to privately talk to find an agreement on the argument. //

(She thinks that they probably were fake because she felt nothing. She strongly follows her ideas and suspicions. I didn't spell that correctly. She will think that somethigg was up until given other evidence. She is not positive completely as to whether they were real or not.)

// Ok, I understand better now ^^ //

Xangor realized that his plan was indeed a fail. She has figured out the fire dragons were fake. His self-confidence has leaded him to commit a mistake. Solstice couldn't be easily tricked. She was too smart. So it won't take much time before she would suspect that Xangor has actually done the illusion. However nothing was lost. She didn't know that Xangor was able to manipulate his own blood. "They weren't fake. They have injured me. How did you get that idea?" Xangor asked with a surprised voice while he allowed Solstice to heal his wounds. "thank you." He smiled thankfully, but inside he was laughing. He had no interest to thank her. Also, he could heal his wounds partially draining away the energy from other living creatures. So he doesn't really needed medications. Those bandages were ridicolous at his eyes. However he didn't want to show all his powers.

Solstice made the remaining ingrediants disappear in ice bubbles. They were now locked away safely in an ice trunk that was in her den. "They blew fire at me. They clawed me. I felt nothing." She said and raised an eyeridge. She stared directly at Xangor's eyes with a look considered the death stare. She was trying to get information out of him. She gave a small smile and stopped the look, looking at his wounded areas. "And I'm doing my job." She said with a smile. There was clearly something up.

When Solstice looked at him, his red eyes were innocent. It was unlikely that Xangor was involved in the FireWings attack. He really looked to be a good dragon. However it was a masterful lie. Xangor was perfectly able to assume fake personalities, so Solstice would never figure out his true nature. He started to ponder about her words. "Strange..." His mind was thinking about something that would justify Solstice's statement. He got a idea. "I think to have seen the fear in your eyes... Maybe you have been influnced by that?" Xangor genuinly asked, looking into her blue eyes again, showing concern. His red eyes were always innocent, like he was really a sincere and authentic dragon, someone she could trust. However inside he was happy that she was scared of fire dragons. He could never forget her terrified face. His realistic illusion hasn't only revealed one of Solstice's weaknesses, but it resulted to be also a sort of torture.

Solstice let out a short and quiet hiss. She knew something was up. Something had to be! "Xangor. Why didnt I feel anything? Why am I not injured?" She asked and eaised an eyeridge, fluffing up her feathers and gracefully turning around just to face him again and sit. Solstice moved with such elegance. She was still extremely confused. She had received no injuries, nor had she felt any fire or claws. Yet Xangor had been bleeding. Solstice knew that Gods had some serious power. Perhaps this was all because of him. Solstice couldn't be certain, though. She smiled slightly. If something did happen, she knew what to do. Good thing she knew his weakness. But then again, he knew hers, too.

Solstice didn't want to give up. She wanted to discover the truth at any cost. If she would decide to learn about NightWing powers, then she would find out that some of them can practice blood magic. A sort of cruel and horrible magic that allows you to wound yourself and spill your blood to use it as weapon. Xangor was aware that Solstice would find that explanation soon. So he decided to proceed with a new plan. A very ingenious and diabolic plan. He was going to tell her the partial truth. "I suspect we have been the victims of a illusion." He explained. "I believe only one dragon has actually attacked us. This dragon wanted to attack me indeed. The rest was a distraction." He said while showing his wounds. Xangor's explanation made a lot sense afterall. Xangor's plan was to just create a fake enemy to use as scapegoat to his crimes. This fake enemy was going to be Xangor himself. But with a different identity. While he was thinking about the details, he gave Solstice another look. He noticed her elegance. She was irresistibile...  Xangor realized that Solstice was becoming a sort of obsession. He really desired her. Not because he loved her, but because he wanted to use her like a item. Xangor had to unluckily wait for now. He had to gain her complete trust first.

Solstice sighed. "There is really someone doing this? I guess it is probably some powerful dragon that wants the gods out of the way or something. What are we supposed to do?" She asked. She was completely clueless of Xangor's obbsessive plans. She stood up and looked around, hoping to find a dragon that was guilty. There was no one, just the two dragons. She turned her head and continued preening. "Are you feeling better, Xangor?.. And I have one more question. Why did you have injury and I don't?" She knew that even though she was a goddess, she could still become injured. That was the only piece of this puzzle that didn't fit.

Xangor faked, as usual, to ponder about her words. He had already the answer in mind. "I was the target of the attack." He gave her an alarmed look. "Inside the illusion, there was only one dragon attacking. The one that has assaulted me. That explains why you aren't injured." Xangor clarified. "I think someone very powerful wants to eliminate me." He told her very worried. He answered at her question. "Yes, I'm feeling better. You're very gentle." He kindly smiled at her. Inside he was disgusted to be gentle with another dragon. He was tired to be hypocritical, but it was necessary in order to trick Solstice. This fake enemy was starting to have an identity. Xangor's enemy. It was fun that Xangor was going to be indeed the enemy of himself. "It's better to move away. This area isn't safe." Xangor suggested before to stand up.

Solstice nodded. "Well, would you like me to stay with you? To make sure you get there safely? And thank you." She stated and stood up as well, grabbing up all of her preened away feathers to get rid of the trace she left. She yawned and looked at Xangor. She hoped he was okay. She didn't know she was falling further into a trap.. Xangor's trap.

Xangor would like to answer yes. He wanted her at any cost. You would rarely find a chance to have a Goddess as your victim. The fact she trusted him was at his advantage. Her smartness and intelligence were causing a lot of troubles. However if his victim was hard to subdue, the desire to torture it become stronger. Xangor was a very patient and controlled dragon, but inside he was looking to unleash his evil instincts. Luckily, he was a dragon with a excellent self-control. He could wait before to attempt to kidnap Solstice. Xangor continued with his plan. "Thank you... But it would be dangerous... Are you sure? The IceWings would be worried for you." He looked into her eyes very serious, but also kind. He faked to be touched by her gentlness. His goal was to become a close friend now. Inside he was laughing for this commedy. It was so realistic that even a Full God would be taken in. NightWings were masters of deceit afterall. And he was the NightWings God.

Solstice shrugged. "I'm just going to take you there and secure the perimeter. And they wouldn't. They know what I have survived." She stated. She was speaking in manner of all of the dragons that have attacked her. Even as a normal dragon, she managed huge dragons, being crushed, torture. She wasn't exactly able to do it herself though. She needed someone to defend. If she were just fighting for herself, she would have less of a fight in her. She would fight for her mate. Her children. Her tribe. Close friends. And she thought that Xangor was a close friend, too. And besides, with her intelligence and unbreakable spirit, she was quite a hard one to catch. She looked up at Xangor and sighed. Her eyes closed for a moment as she thought of this enemy. A powerful mortal. Or perhaps another God. She would have to find some dragonic books on NightWing history and NightWing dragons. Solstice's eyes flashed briefly down to her necklace. A dragon standing before a cross. A symbol of being a saint, a symbol of having once been a Crusader. That had given her suspisions upon everything and more fighting skills. Her experience in fights. She stood up and gave an encouraging nod at Xangor. "Let's go."

Xangor understood from her words that Solstice was a very capable fighter. She was probably well trained and used to face hard situation. This was stimulating Xangor to put more efforts in his goal to kidnap Solstice. He has already learnt that Solstice was scared by fire. A point in his favour. She was incredibily smart. A point in his disfavour. However Xangor knew very little about her powers. He had to investigate what she was capable of. So she couldn't take him by surprise. Xangor had already some plans in mind. He was thinking to mind-enslave a powerful FireWing. Some of them were so brainless that they would show no resistance against a mind attack. Xangor's plan was to send this dragon to attack Solstice. Then Xangor would take the chance to spy Solstice and study her combat style. It was a cruel plan because a FireWing was going to die. It didn't matter. Other dragons were just items for Xangor. He spreaded his wings and nodded at Solstice. "Ok then. The NightWings territories aren't far. I'm confident we'll reach them soon." He smiled taking fly. Xangor noticed her necklace, and he wondered if it had some powers inside. It would be another issue. Some dragons wore magical and powerful accessories. "Your necklace is very beatiful." He faked to give her a sincere compliment, but he was just looking to attack speech and learn more about that accessory.

Solstice nodded and spread her wings quickly to take after him. As they soared through the air, Xangor took notice of Solstice's crusader necklace. "Thanks. I got it from my days as a Crusader." She said. She stopped for a moment, hovering with powerful wing beats. "I don't think I am allowed to enter NightWing territory. Unless your leader is kind enoughto let me there for a moment?" She asked and looked at Xangor.

Xangor briefly thought about his relationship with Gemini. He followed her orders and he was a loyal Nightwing. Not because he loved his tribe. His goal was to protect the NightWings territories, his home and source of dark powers. The NightWings were completely unaware about Xangor's perverted nature, but some of them were suspicious. "You can accompany me until the borders." He told her before to focus the necklace's argument. "Crusaders? Is it a magical accessory?" He asked with curiosity, like he was interested in her story with the crusaders. The truth is that he was indeed curious to learn possible powers related to the necklance.

Solstice nodded. "It is indeed magical. It can keep me from getting injured by most magic and it symbolizes my past." She explained. It was true that the necklace was able to rid Solstice of magical injury, as well as telling stories of her past. And it helped with getting rid of demons. "The borders? Alright. Let's go!" She cried and did a loop the loop mid air. She was quite glad to have done such a childish act. She needed to get put of the house for once. She awaited Xangor's move.