Elders Bluff (Open)

The sky was clear, with only few clouds floating gently along, providing only momentary shade before moving on at the mercy of the wind. In a small mountain range, overlooking a valley beneath sat an old dragon, resting in the sun as he gazed at the landscape around him presently. To his left the valley continued onward till reaching the treeline of a forest, to the right, across the mountain range he knew by memory alone of the shoreline of the sea. How small and insignificant he felt compared to these landscapes, even though he was not quite small himself. Once ago....many decades and centuries ago....he could've laid claim to this landscape as his own territory, hunted to his leisure and maybe started a family of his own...oh how he lamented of that given up dream. Such is the steep price of immortality, giving up ones dreams so long ago that he can barely even remember them as it is now.

Once....he had been quite the rouge dragon in his youth, but age has long since claimed him of his body. His body once muscled and large, now slim and fragile that he can break a bone easily now without even trying. His wings once majestic, now tattered and barely of any use for flight if he even could. His snout completely wrinkled, teeth almost completely gone, a long white beard that nearly stretched to the ground, and horns chipped and weathered. His scales once a brilliant white and blue eyes that some said sparkled, were both dim as he sat, remembering long days ago that he sorely missed. The mind though....remained sharp, if the only good thing that came from it. Knowing the only thing between him and death....was a small blue crystal around his neck, such a small trinket that could him living for so long that hes lost track after 1,000 or so.

With a heavy sigh, he knew this would happen and thought he could live on with no regrets...how stupid he was to think that. He did not even care if his illusion wore off, it did not matter to him anymore at the moment. Besides....who would want to visit such an elderly dragon like himself anyway? An ancient one at that, living well beyond any mortal dragon hes known before.

The sun warmed his wings and scales as the wind chilled them slightly. It was a sensation he had not felt since his tribe came to inhabit their tunnels beneath Pyrria. For the first time in months, his king had allowed the tribe a trip to the surface. They were, of course limited to a particular distance, but Baldirak had slipped away to take to the air. Now he glided on the air currents and dove through the sparse clouds. He felt happy--almost more so than finding out that he was to be an uncle--and wished that he could continue flying all day. As the wind picked up slightly, his left wing lowered while the right raised. The rest of his body leaned in favor of the so he flew in that direction. His pale eyes gazed upon the earth below, to the familiar view of the valley below the mountains. There was the river that snaked through it, the lush forests with clearings of varying sizes throughout them. And then there was the mountain range--how majestic it looked. His eyes found the mountain which housed his den, the tallest one in the range. Often he had sat outside it to watch his peers. He wondered now if someone else had taken claim to it... The old one folded his wings against his sides, launching himself into a dive. The once noiseless wind now filled his ears with sound, whistling like a hundred birds in unison. The sun no longer warmed him but he didn't mind in the least. As he came ever closer to the ground, his right wing was lifted slightly to allow more air beneath it. As it did so, Baldirak was sent into a spiral. There was naught more liberating to the old one than spiraling toward the ground. Somehow it was better than merely flying. Perhaps it made him feel younger, or perhaps it was simply fun. Whatever the feeling, he loved it. Just a few feet now before he would collide with the earth... And so his wings snapped open, flaring to their full span, allowing him to level out and glide some distance. Now his wings lifted and lowered in steady rhythm again. Baldirak decided to fly to the mountain range, to visit his den--if it were still his. Along the way, he spotted a Dragon not too far off from his destination. In fact, it appeared to be one he had seen before... What was his name? "Phantasmas..." Baldirak remembered. He altered his course--he would go say hello to the old Dragon. After all, he had not seen him in years. Finally he neared Phantasmas and landed just a few feet away with a rumbling of earth beneath his paws. His wings folded themselves against his back as he sat, his tail curling around his paws. "Have you a mind to tolerate some company, Old One?"

Some use hes certainly used his immortality with.....living like a hermit and only appearing once in a while to prank any random dragon he met. Never really getting too attached....not for too long anyways....or faking his death once in a while, so easy to fool a mind when its something they want to see happen. Neat little trick for any illusionist, and quite a couple of others hes....acquired, over his lonely existence, moving from place to place. He did not notice himself being spotted due to his illusion wearing off and failed to notice the large Earthwing in the distance. Phantasmas did not even notice until Baldrik landed that he covered his chest from surprise.

He let out a sigh when he recognized the dragon instantly even though it had been years since they last met. "Nearly made my heart give out..." He said lowly and grunted at his question, "I don't see why not..."Since you already sat down anyway. He thought the last part to himself rather then say it outloud as to not sound rude. "What....brings you to sit next to an old dragon such as myself?" He said, coughing lightly.

Baldirak stood, limping the few feeble feet that existed between himself and Phantasmas, only to again lower back into a sitting position. Now his gaze was again turned on the thriving valley below. A smile tugged at the corners of his maw; how he missed sitting on a mountain's summit to enjoy such a view. It was somewhat cruel how fleeting his outing was. But it was appreciated, nevertheless--even considering he'd not received permission to come here. There was something to ponder... just how might Baldirak explain his unapproved pilgrimage? His nostrils flared slightly as another cool breeze moved past. He could just make out the aromatic scent of the valley's flora. The old one's tail nearly began to sway in happiness. His eyes closed as the sun filled them--the cloud that had covered it now moved on its way. He savored the warm feeling before opening his eyes again. And then he looked at the Dragon whom he sat beside."Nonsense, there are yet some years to you. And merely a furlough from my duties... albeit, an unapproved one. Since our last conversation, tell me, what has transpired?"

Transpired....heh, not senile yet thankfully and hopefully stays that way for sometime yet. Though....he thought long and hard to think of what to say back in reply to the question. "Transpired? An interesting question that is indeed. Not alot, yet quite a bit from what I know of. It still amuses me how other dragons still fall for such....simple illusions. Like....this one time, I made a Rouge eat a tree when he thought it was easy prey and didn't think none of it until he realized it wasn't a very big moose." He chuckled lightly at the memory and sighed again at it.

"So long ago....a pity really. As it stands, thats the highlight of what has transpired for this old dragon." He passed a glance towards the other Old one. "What about you Baldrik? What has transpired the past years since we last talked for you?" He asked his question with....what seemed like curiosity in his eyes, for a fleeting second.

He too chuckled at the brief story Phantasmas told. And then he frowned at his own. For awhile he did not answer his friend's question, he simply sat there. His gaze moved over the valley slowly, taking in everything. He looked at the sky, followed the birds that went past. Finally, he began to speak. "All had been well for me, my tribe. But it was... an illusion. There was a danger festering at our paws. One we were aware of, but to a degree which we could not have imagined... And I was unable to see the extent of it, it was veiled from me. Finally, that threat attacked when unannounced. An simple but large army of humans... but there was nothing simple about them. They had their usual weapons, arrows and swords. But they also had catapults with flaming rock, giant spears and equally large cross bows with which to launch them. It was as if they had spent a year studying Dragonkind, and we EarthWings specifically, trying to find the best way to take us down. If not for their... effective weaponry and their sheer numbers, had we had some warning, we might have beaten them. But we were slaughtered. Our citizens took the brunt of the attack. The Hatchlings and their parents were targeted first. I had been asleep in my den when the attack started. I donned my mother's armor--not the best fit, mind you, but it sufficed--and made my way to the city. On my way, I helped others escape. There were so many humans... no matter how many I killed, there were hundreds more to take their place. And soon even my best efforts weren't enough..." Here, Baldirak paused not only for breath, but to gaze at his paws and the large scar on his left foreleg as he remembered the day. He frowned more before continuing, "My paws became useless with all the spear tips embedded in them. I was becoming exhausted and my last attempt to turn the tide of this battle saw my left leg and right wing in shambles. Those giant spears... so many of them had been launched during my attack. I might have avoided them if I hadn't done the maneuver I did. And in my daze I was captured. But with my leg skewered and my wing with a giant hole in it, I couldn't have escaped. I was dragged through our ruined city and I discovered something. The humans, they had a... goddess of some kind. She healed the soldiers that had dragged me. And then... she healed my leg, just enough that I would live. I was taken somewhere, held there for a year. But I don't know what happened during that time--I was unconscious most of the time. I remember waking one day, and saw an opportunity in which I might escape. I returned to EarthWing territory to find our city in ruins and the territory was no longer ours. The rogues had taken it over. The few of my tribe that had survived had found a new home. I found them eventually. For the first year, I was greatly depressed, bitter. My wing had healed but my leg constantly ailed me. But now we thrive in our new home. And I have two nephews and two nieces." Baldirak laid down and brought his tail up to rest his chin on it.

Silence.....a silence the ancient dragon had not expected from one dragon like Baldirak from the question. The body language alone told him much of what seemed to be going on, from minor movements and gestures, he gleaned much. The he began his story....oh how much he did not expect such news. War was not new to him...seeing many come and go unfortunately, staying uninvolved as much as he could without being dragged into it. For humans to have been this organized and in such numbers, planning every detail for such an invasion from what he was being told. Then the mention of the humans having a Goddess made him raise a brow in a questioning look and...maybe disbelief? It didn't surprise him as much as it would to any other dragon, for living so long such things....never surprised him as much as it has before. He learned to get used to it, as one era fell and another rose in its place, such is time immemorial.

Once the Old Earthwing finished, he took a few seconds to let the story settle on him. "Much as happened...it is rather unfortunate to say that this is the first I've heard of this attack. A hermit such as myself.....learn to avoid tangling in affairs of others, until we get involved in some way or another. I can feel your pain though.....and it is a very hard feeling to get over, especially for it to happen to ones tribe." He gazed out across the valley as well, knowing it was different long ago, but such a distant memory it was for him, so blurry in his mind. "I know the pain all too well, including the memories to go along with them. It hurts....to just watch from the side, knowing you could do something to prevent at least some bloodshed..." He trailed off as memories came back, some he knew all too well of past wars. Once, fighting and in turn dieing once, for the first time realizing he may be immortal, but he still felt pain. Knowing the long fainted scars over his chest and different parts of his body, some never fully faded away.

"I wish I could have learned something from my captors. It would have made my decision to allow them to capture me worth while. Instead I brought naught to my tribe but a misplaced bitterness toward them and nightmares" Baldirak stood again and stretched his wings. He turned his gaze back in the direction of his mountain then to Phantasmas. "If it still belongs to me, I would go back to the den carved in that mountain just there and retrieve something from it. I'll return shortly." Opening his wings, he lifted himself into the air and flew to his mountain. As he landed there, just outside the den, he could smell no other dragon. Baldirak walked inside and moved to the back, then began digging. After a few minutes, he had dug a six foot deep hole. At the bottom of it, a large chunk of lunar rock. Taking it in his right forepaw, he filled in the hole then left the den and returned to Phantasmas.

Phantasmas merely grunted, "I figured it was yours, even if its been years I still recognized your scent there. Which is the reason I'm here and not over there. He said with a simple gesture of waving his clawed forepaw and then Baldirak flew off towards the mountain to collect whatever he left behind. The ancient dragon wondered what sort of item would bring a dragon like Baldirak all the way back to his old den to retrieve it. He felt the faintly glowing blue crystal hanging around his neck and sighed, "What could've....indeed." He said lowly just as the aforementioned dragon came back from the mountain shortly after. He saw the rock held in Baldirak right forepaw and raised a brow more in curiosity then questioningly, "Thats what you came back to retrieve," he gestured to the lunar rock chunk, "It must hold some value for you to hide it and then come back for it, for whatever reason that may be." Phantasmas said to the returning Earthwing.

"After becoming her Prophet, I had the honor of visiting the Goddess Astral's realm. I decided to bring this back with me, that I might make a talisman from it." He lifted his tail to his chest, pointing to the aforementioned object that hung around his neck. "And I thought perhaps I could use the remainder of this to construct an armor of some kind. You know, Phantasmas, I've nothing more of sentiment within that den. And it is unlikely I shall be able to return here for some time, yet." Baldirak turned his pale gaze once more to the sky. The thin membrane of his wings lifted and rippled slightly as a breeze came by. He could see some menacing clouds in the distance and frowned. "Hm, I ought to return home, lest I become trapped within the storm. Farewell, old friend and have that den, it seems you'll soon have need for one." Spreading his wings, Baldirak leaped into the air. For a moment, he hovered there just above the ground. "I should hope no more years pass between our talks." He turned and flew away then, beginning his journey back to his home.

A prophet....and he wants to use what his talisman is made of into armor. What an interesting dragon to say the least but....hes not one to judge others so easily like that. Then Baldirak offering him his old den and warning of a storm snapped him back to the present, "Thank you Baldirak. You didn't-" before he could finish the Earthwing flew up to hover, said something, and flew off back to the Earthwing territories. Even though his eyesight has dulled from age, he could still tell where the menacing clouds were coming from and reacted accordingly. He sent an illusionary copy of himself over to where the den was, once he could sense it reached its destination he concentrated and swapped places with his double. He opened his eyes to find himself sitting....in quite a large and expansive den, perfect for those of Earthwing size, not surprising him in the slightest. His double on the bluff he was once sitting on disappeared as he got himself comfortable in the den and prepared himself to wait in there once the storm came.

Then, he felt something constrict around his throat and squeeze, cutting off his air. He could not even gasp aloud, as he whatever forced choked the life from him prevented him from even opening his mouth as he struggled weakly to breathe. It did not last long as his head fell to the ground and his dull eyes now cloud over as he lay still. The crystal hung around his neck glowed slightly from the ancient dragons sudden death, Again?! This is the Twelfth time this month alone! Can that old Lightwing give it a rest already? I told him I can't die and yet he still cursed me with that damn Wind magic that asphyxiates me at the end of each week. Great....now I'll have to wait an hour for my body to heal from that...just terrific. The ancient dragon said to himself from within the crystal as his soul awaited his decrepit old body to repair the damage caused by the curse.