The Breaking of a Mind... (Open to all)

Nathar was so close... If this worked, it would mean nearly limitless magical ability for all dragons would be available. All he had to do was NOT mess this up... They were so close... He and his group of friends had been working on the Infusion process for years and years now. They'd finally done it! They'd created a safe way to fuse large amounts of magic directly with a dragon. This would allow for use of nearly any known magic with little to no negative effects. Nathar himself was to be the first to test it. If it worked, then dragons from everywhere would be able to use magic freely. Of course, one had to make sure that only the right people gained such power... There would be other concerns and limits to consider, but this would be a major breakthrough. Four of the other dragons from his group of friends and fellow workers would be there to make sure everything went as planned. The more sets of eyes and paws to keep watch the better. They weren't sure what, if anything, else could go wrong, but they'd prepared for everything. Or so they thought...

The cave was massive. From floor to ceiling it was three hundred and five meters tall, and it was just as wide if not more. In the middle was a cage-like apparatus that could hold even the largest of dragons. There were massive crystals specifically grown to conduit magic into the middle of the cave in ten meter intervals from all directions. There was a gigantic spire of crystal grown using pure magical energy hanging from the ceiling. It would serve to transfer the collected magical energy to the dragon in the apparatus. When the process was complete the crystal floor of the cage would absorb the corruptive energy leaked off by the pure magical energy. This would stop the dragon receiving the treatment from being corrupted or even destroyed. The corrupted crystal would then be taken away and destroyed somewhere where the dark magical energy that escaped would be either countered or destroyed. There was more to the process, but it was these key parts that would make it possible... There was this small, annoying feeling of doubt in Nathar's mind, but his fellows seemed quite enthusiastic. The whole way to the laboratory they'd been talking about what they planned to do with their newfound powers. So far, their intentions all seemed good, so they would be allowed to receive the treatment. As Nathar stepped into the apparatus his four friends and coworkers began the process of transferring magic from the world into the crystals, then finally into Nathar himself...

The mountain shook as an explosion cracked out from somewhere beneath the mountains... Nathar couldn't see much through the dust, and the massive amount of magical energy in the air manifested in a blinding cloud of many colored light. It was terrifying and yet beautiful... Suddenly Nathar felt only extreme agony. It was as if the scales were being torn from his body one by one, and it felt as if little blades of both ice and fire were freezing and burning every part of him at once. Even his bones felt as if they might shatter apart... He shrieked in both agony and terror as the complete and utter pain ripped through his entire body. It wasn't a short pain... It just seemed to keep going. He couldn't see what was going on, but suddenly a searing pain shot through his skull. It was even worse than the other pain... He dropped to the ground unconscious as something slammed into the side of his head...

Nathar woke up to pitch blackness... His face was covered in a substance which he assumed was blood... He felt rock crushing him from above pushing him down onto the cold, hard floor of the cave... It must have collapsed. He took in a sharp breath of air as he fully awoke. He opened his eyes only to find that... He couldn't see anything but darkness... Perhaps it was nighttime, or maybe his eyes were covered by the blood he felt all over his face. He blinked a few times but nothing changed... He tried to move, but all he did was shift the rocks and boulders covering him slightly. He shrieked in pain again as the rock above him slid downwards pushing into his back, wings, and neck... He gritted his teeth and made himself as still as he possibly could. He cried out again to the darkness, "Help me!" He was terrified at the sound of his voice... It was raspy and grating as if his throat was torn to shreds... Speaking hurt so much... It felt like dry, desert, sandstorm winds were ripping up his throat and lungs from the inside. He wondered if he was buried too deep for anyone to hear him... That was a horrifying thought... He pushed it aside and cried out again, "Help! D-down here! Please! Anyone!" He coughed as he felt what he thought was blood dripping from his maw. He spit it out, but that just let it drip down onto the rocks and underneath his head... He shivered... He had to stop shouting, but he would keep doing it until someone came... All he had was the hope that someone would hear him...

Beneath her claws, Arius felt the earth shake. A feeling of foreboding curled up them like smoke, and an edged feeling of warning told her something wasn't right. The forest felt it too, suddenly quiet and alert. It was the dead silence of a great aftershock, the kind through which you could hear the trees breathing in anticipation.

No, something wasn't right, and her healer senses were tingling. She dug her claws into the earth deeper, resisting the nausea that welled up in her stomach, and asked where it came from.

The magic that affronted her was staggering, and she nearly toppled over from sheer magnitude of what she felt. Great swathes of energy, rainbow and electric in color and feel, radiated like a nuclear explosion, like a neon sign, just over 50 miles away.

She wrenched her mind back from the thing as she drew her paws out of the dirt, and thought. Should she investigate? It would more then likely be dangerous.
But she had seen a living thing within that magic cloud, something still breathing at the bottom of the great pit it had originated from.

She was no stranger to deep, dark places. And she would never let anyone else be trapped there, either.

Her body electric with fear, apprehension and determination, she crouched and lept into the wind, wings beating desperately like her heart, a twinning bullet through the forrest to rescue the creature at the center of this mess.

The NightWing Trainee was resting, thinking about when will he'll find a Moonstone. Its been months, and he still havent found one. He was just thinking about where to look next, when the ground shook. Earthquake!

Noticing the quake he quickly gotten up and ran out of the cave he was in. Scared, he looked around, opened his wings and flew a little from the cave. Seconds later, he heard a roar for help in the cave, Probably a dragon was stuck in there! Checking to make sure the quake was done, he flew to the cave, his bone body rattling a little. "i hope that hes okay.." he said as he went inside the cave.

In the cave, he was smelling the ground, hoping that he can find the dragon and save him, as he turned one corner, he saw a massive cave room. His mind racing, he heard wings flapping. He quickly shut down his green glowing ball in his bones, and hiding in the darkness, hoping that nothing will give him away.

Arius landed heavily at the entrance to the cave, hackles flaring at the thick stench of magic. It was like wading through pea soup, and stuck to her scales like smog. It sent shivers up her spine, and had all the pleasantness of a dead dog.

Was it an attack? Was this the work of some sentient hostile creature? Arius paused at that thought, which hadn't occurred to her before. That would be a problem....

Her senses were already on high alert, but she inhaled deeply, relaxing into focus. If there was something dangerous down there, it would be a lot less dangerous if she was calm and fully aware. Her claws dug deeper into the earth, their padded sensors like second eyes; her hackles raised and her eyes narrowed, as if she were a ballerina posturing for an entrance, preparing for the first great leap or turn. "Fear is the greatest enemy" she reminded herself, remembering Cerius' words. It could be sorcery, or a natural phenomenon - it could be something else, why be afraid of monsters that weren't there?

As she eased inside the cool cave darkness, she did so prepared, eyeing every corner and hearing every sound, until the totality of the darkness enveloped her.

--

The wounded dragon was there, she could smell him and smell his blood. It seemed from her sensors that he was in a great cavern, unimaginably large for something underground. She remained cautious, moving so much more slowly then she wished to with a wounded dragon nearby. It was then she felt it.

There was a movement - a shift, as if something had been pacing then quickly stopped to lay still. It suddenly had her full awareness, and she searched it out through the earth with her claws, finding only stone, dust and bones. She was very clear that it was close.

Arius had a decision to make - a snap decision, lest the great terrible monster of her fears were a reality. She surveyed her surroundings and breathed deeply. Her voice remained a whisper, but it held all the power of a dragon prepared to battle.

"I carry poison. If you attack, you will die. If you are friendly, show yourself."

He stood there, hesistation controlling him. But he just decided to show himself, hopefully that the dragon wont attack him. He turned on his glowing bones in him and looked at the blue-whiteish dragon. It didnt look like a threat to him, but he was a Bone Dragon after all. But still, it could have the chance to attack him still.

he backed away a little, ready to see if it was going to attack the bone Dragon. He took a careful look at the dragon, and it looked like it was a part of the Earthwings. He didnt trust the dragon, yet....

The glowing bones rattled Arius out of herself, and she stood rooted as cold fear replaced her sense. When instinct stepped in it thrashed her backward to crouch in a taut defensive position with claws out. Her left hand grasped the pouch of poison around her neck, though as an afterthought she realized the thing wasn't alive, and that it was unlikely to work on the undead. She's never seen anything like it before.

Old panic whispered this was the hostile other-worldly creature she had feared, the great magical monster responsible for this mess...but she hesitated.

The creature stepped back. Inoffensively. It looked at her. She looked back.

Arius raised herself from the ground and dropped her hand from the pouch around her neck.

"Who...what are you?"

"Im Zeoldrerrith, nice to meet you? oh...and also, im a Bone dragon. A wizard created me" he then went a liitle closer to the Earthwing, curious. "whats your name?" he asked in a clear tone

"Arius..." she answered absentmindedly, still taking him in. The very fact of him kept her reeling, but the current situation was too sensitive to spend time rebalancing. His voice was clear and true, and since the one fact that currently mattered was if he was a threat or not, his openness was a good indicator he was friendly. Good. She could spend time on additional judgements later.

But the pressing smog of magic-thick air was getting to her and she gathered up her whirling attention to focus on the task at hand.

"Zeoldrerrith," she said, calling his attention, testing his name, "This isn't a safe place to talk. There's a dragon down here who needs help, and we must get him out quickly. If he isn't your enemy, will you help me?" As she spoke these words she looked for a heartbeat pulsing against the earth below the dragons body. It was there, but faint.

He smelled the blood, realizing that it was a Nightwing. His eyes widen, he quickly went to the trapped one and used his jaw to carry the large rock and throw it somewhere else, but not at Arius. he was hoping that the dragon was not dead. "come on!" he yelled at Arius, looking worried

Arius rushed in alongside the bone dragon, heaving away the great boulders and rubble on top of the injured creature. She was very grateful for her new companion's strength, impressed that a creature of barely more then bones could be that strong. She was doubly grateful he avoided hitting her with the stones, and for the eerie green light of his body that illuminated the ruins. Magic, she thought to herself, and kept digging.

As they cleared away the debree, the magical energy grew in strength around the downed dragon, so thick it made her feel sick. The volume was like great wafts of black ashy smoke from a fire below, hot and choking - as if, magically, the form of the dragon itself were burning. He - or she - was of about her height, a little taller, with purple scales veined with colors tinted black in the bone dragons aura.

The whole sight made her heart sink, and all she knew was that they needed to get him or her out of there.

Nearly complete with removing the debree, she turned to her companion and said, "We've got to get him out of here. Quickly. Can you - what was that?"

There was a great and horrible slithering sound coming from behind them. And it didn't sound friendly.

He was carrying the rock, when he heard the sound too, and it meant trouble. he turned to look at Arius, dropping the rock.

"what was wh- ROOAARR" the creature attacked him, head first, and made him stagger a little before it attacked him with a nasty hiss. he didnt know what was going on, untill he saw its face.

The creature was about to break one of his bones, when Zeoldrerrith quickly gotten up to face it. He bite the thing straight on the snout, and throwing it to the cliff of the cave. Then, the creature ran to him, biting his wing bone, and breaking it.

Zeoldrerrith roared loudly at him or her, hoping that he would scare it away, but it didnt. He was at the edge of the cliff while he tryed to get out of the way, it was too late.

He roared as he fell down the Cliff, unable to fly. but.....he gotten revenge too. as he flew down, he fell down with it too, roaring at it. He made the creature turn, straight to the ground before hitting.

"Zeoldrerrith!!" Arius screamed as her new friend plummeted off the cliff. It had been a split second since the creature had attacked, and Zeoldrerrith had thrown himself in the way.

Throwing caution to the wind she scraped to the cliffs edge and lept, drawing her wings in close and plummeting after him; when the great boom of their bodies hit the earth, a great mushroom of dust sped toward her, blinding her. "Zeoldrerrith!" She called again. Her hand gripped the pouch around her neck again; uncertain whether the monster was dead or alive, she hoped it would be at least stunned.

They falled down with a big boom, both of them on the ground. Zeo was somehow alive, unconscious, with a broken wing and arm. The monster gotten up, and started to limp away from them. before it left, it looked at Arius and roared at her, reminding her that the terrible creature will get it revenge one day

Nathar heard voices... He wasn't sure whether or not they were just in his head, but voices, at least in this case, were a good sign. The rocks and boulders above him shifted, and one came down on his wing. It wasn't enough to break anything, but he yelped at the pain. He smelled fresh air... He heard something crashing about, a roar, shouting... A name... Another roar, then quiet. He shot up, startled, only to shriek in pain and fall to the ground again. Everything hurt... He still couldn't see. He wanted to ask who was there, but his throat still felt useless. He reached forward and clawed himself the rest of the way out of the rubble. He roared in pain again as he scraped along the ground, dragging his wings behind him. He flopped to the ground, defeated... He couldn't move, at least not without causing pain... He hoped whoever he'd heard was still there. Maybe they would be able to help him... He choked out a weak gasp, "W-who's there?" He felt as if he was still being crushed underneath the mountain... He heard a drop of whatever was covering his face hit the cave floor. There was no echo... Had the whole cave collapsed? He didn't care... He stayed still and quiet. He didn't feel the rocks above him any more, but even then it felt as though a massive weight was going to snap his bones...

The monster's roar threw Arius backwards in the air and for a split second she spiraled above the fray. She gripped with her wings and righted herself, but too late - the great beast got away.

"Zeoldrerrith!!" She dropped to the earth as quickly as she could, coughing through the dust cloud of their landing. She noticed him then, like a dragon, long dead and covered in sand from the desert; had she not known he was a living magical creature she would have mistaken him for a carcass. But - she did know he was living, and however different he was in the light of day, he was her companion and thus her ward.

She looked him over like one of her patience, taking stock of the scratches to his frame and the severely broken wing. Her heart palpitated and she grimaced worriedly - this boy was only skin and bones, literally. He was not flesh - how could she help him?

"Can you hear me?" She asked forcefully, a question tender and demanding, "Can you hear me Zeoldrerrith? Are you ok?" She thought to put her wings around him, to lift him up out of the sand.

She was cautions all the time of other creatures lurking about. Whatever it was that attacked them may have caused the magic or been drawn by it - and there was one more dragon to help. She knew they had to move quickly.

it was a few seconds, and he had only the time in till he had blacked out. But before that, he looked at Arius, his bright glowing eyes soon turning to a dark green. Also, his glowing green energy inside of him was doing the same thing too. He slightly growled, before he blacked out

Arius saw the light in Zeoldrerrirth's eyes, then saw them close. He was alive, no matter how injured, and it relieved her. She sensed he would be alright.

Carefully fluttering her wings, she removed some of the dust from his bones and quickly examined his damaged wing. It had snapped off mid-bone, and the pieces of it dangled weakly from the sewn together flesh that constituted the flight-membrane. Taking materials from her healer's pouch around her neck and chest, she wrapped the bones together, as if for a broken arm, and - after a couple moments of doubt - applied a touch of healing salve as well. Just in case. She had some magic of healing, but this was just a touch beyond for her magical abilities. It would have to do for now.

She hesitated then, thinking.

"Im sorry in advance..." she whispered, carefully starting to draw the bone dragon's body up. She had hoped to put him on her back, to bring him back into the cave to gather up the other dragon as well... but when she tried, he was just a pile of bones! "Drat it!" She said out-loud, carefully replacing the bones to where she found them. Hopefully they weren't causing him any pain.
"I'll be back then." She whispered again, "Don't get into any trouble while I'm gone."

With that, she leapt back into the air, wings unfurling and pressing downwards. The sun was rising behind her, and she looked out at the expanse of colors below her.

Within minutes, she was at the lip of the cave, and once again cautiously preparing herself to enter, steeling herself against the thick stench of magic that stuck thick to everything. It felt heavier this time, and gripped at her like thick smog weighted with boulders. Her claws scraped again hopefully at the earth, taking in all the signals, thrums and obstacles around her as if they saw with second sight.

It took longer then she had hope to return to the great cavern where the other dragon lay wounded. He was breathing heavily now, and she could feel his labour against the earth even at a distance; but he was alive, and she was glad. Without the light from Zeoldrerrirth she only had her claws to see with, and upon approaching him, noticed he had shifted slightly from before. But the air around him still had a heavy, nuclear weight of magic and it blurred her vision.

She could feel his pain when she approached him, and it touched her heart. Momentarily throwing caution to the wind, she addressed him with the voice of a healer: "Dragon," she commanded, the power of her voice vibrating around the cave, "Can you stand?"

Nathar heard something approaching him. A voice... It sounded like a dragon, probably female. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a grating wheeze. He coughed. More blood came up, something must have been damaged internally. He tried once more, this time an actual word made their way out in a rasp, "N-no..." He hissed out a few words, "I... I can't... see..." The realization sank in as he said the words aloud. He couldn't see... The world was completely dark for him. His breathing became rapid and panicked. He reached out ahead of himself in a vain attempt to feel around. He yelped in pain as his forelegs snapped back in, curling him into a ball. He clapped his paws to his head in pain. His head was pounding, and everything burned as if he was on fire. He let out a muffled shriek and clenched his jaw. He felt a sudden surge of power and anger. He dug his claws into the cave floor and pushed up. He rose slowly and painfully, but he was now standing. He roared in anger and pain. He wasn't going to be brought low by an accident... He wasn't going to... Then the rage left him... He fell back to the ground weak, injured, and defeated... Blood dripped from his maw. He didn't have the energy to speak any more. Why should he? It sure seemed like he was going to die anyway... He let out a long raspy sigh of pain and defeat.

Snowblaze angrily walked through the green forest, her emotional way of thinking "turned on" as she did. She didn't even know why she was here of all places, but the oddly built dragoness was hungry, and food was really scarce in the colder Icewing territory right now, though she wasn't having any more luck.

The dragoness was ready to scream in annoyance until she felt a shack in the ground, and heard a low thud shortly after. Her mind quickly became calculating, scared enough for her mind to switch, and the 'ness quickly began to fly towards the noise.

It didn't take long for the dragoness to see what she figured was the source of the shaking and thud. A half destroyed mountain. The crossbreed was cautious as she approached, not knowing what she'd find. Her mind began to race. What could have caused this?

The 'ness continued until she found an opening, and peered her head inside. Something made Snowblaze not want to go further, but she had to be sure no one was there. "Hello! Is anyone in here!?"

Zeo woke up, groaning with pain. He really wanted to kill the monster that almost killed him, but his wing bones were hurting so much that he didn't even have the strength to get up. He looked around the forest, hoping that no more monsters come. He was about to try and get up again, when he heard...an icewing that he reconized by smell and voice.

At least I could lift my neck, he thought as he lifted his neck to look around. He saw a icewing, flying up to the cave. This was his chance now.......

"Help! Down here!" he roared at snowblaze, calling for help. hopefully she could hear him

Albino was sleeping near a tree, when she woken up due to a mountain falling. What the.....she thought. she carefully climbed down from the tree and ran to the noise, he mind racing on what could been happening.

She stopped in her tracks to see the damage, and as soon as she saw it...her eyes widen. "What creature...or creatures could possibly do this?", she mumbled to herself. She looked around, seeing a...bone dragon? wait a minute...was this the dragon that she seen at with the thunderbird?

He looked badly injured...like really. His wing seem to be broken, along with his arm. Like he really had no defense, he just have skin or bone. No flesh at all?

"um..hello? im here to help" she said to Zeo as he roared to call help

Snowblaze heard a voice! Someone was down there, and need help. She quickly walked into the cave before laying her eyes on the oddest thing she'd seen all day. A dragon made of bones. She also noticed a little hatchling too, saying she was here to help. Thankfully the Icewing's mind stayed logical, despite the stress she was under, and not really caring about the other dragons seeing her strange build.

She then looked at the bone dragon taking note of the damage to his wing before speaking in a cold, calculating tone. "This doesn't look great, but you should be fine. I'm no healer, but us Icewings tend to learn more like Rogues." The oddly built dragoness then turned her blaze orange eyes to the white scaled hatchling. "Can you find something to tie sticks to his wing with?"