The Everglow (Baldirak)

At the isle of Shadows Refuge the last light of the day was fading in the horizon of the ocean. As darkness took control of the world Malaki came out of a small cave and gave a toothy yawn. It was not that long ago he had fled the meeting but already the memory of it seemed almost like a dream.

Down below from the elevated ground he was on Malaki could see the gold beach. Though at the moment it was not very golden with the sun having gone to sleep to leave its sister the moon to watch the night with her children the stars to keep her company.

"The Everglow", Malaki said thoughtfully upon looked down at ocean bay. He had heard stories of it, but stories did not compare to actually seeing it with your own eyes. The ocean water was glowing in the most beautiful turquoise blue color. While many dragon scholars have attempted to understand the strange phenomenon. None could ever really explain definitively what caused the bay to glow at night on some times of the year.

Spreading his wings Malaki leapt off the ledge of the cave entrance and glided down to land on the beach with a few hops and kicking sand up with each one. Even the sand had started to glow were the ocean waves were gently lapping up. Feeling at complete peace here and not another soul in sight, the night wing pulled off his goggles and laid down on the beach.

Pulling out a book from a satchel on his body the night wing started to read, his own malachite colored eyes adding a glow to the pages of the leather bound books pages. In a temporary moment of respite, Malaki wad was free to just relax and forget about the problems of the world

The Twilight King made his way to the private Isle of Tenebris: Shadows Refuge. He hoped he might find the NightWing leader there. Instead, he was told Tenebris was out. Where and why, no one seemed to know. As he was leaving, he saw a NightWing laying on the beach; he was flying low enough to the ground to be able to see it. The King passed and circled back around. He landed and approached, noticing the strangely bright eyes. "If you're patrolling, you might wish to be in constant motion."

Malaki lowered the book to look at the king with his glowing eyes for a moment before going back to reading and paying the king no mind as if he was a commoner in the streets. "Time is like a river, always in motion. But even the smallest ripples in the water have far reaching effects. You came, but then again I saw futures were Tulvir came and other random dragons meeting me here. That is the problem with seeing the future. Nothing is ever written in stone. Prophecy tells what can be, not what will be".

Turning a page the night wing lowered his jaw in a draconic smile. "Do you like to read? I like fiction myself, this book is quite a nice one. Once upon a time it was outlawed in my tribe, if it still is I can not say for sure. I always had a soft heart for love stories. This work of fiction is about how a night wing and light wing fell in love and built a bridge between the two tribes, uniting them."

Lowering the book now and closing it slowly the night wing added. "A lovely story of hope, but still, just a work of fiction." Putting the book away in his satchel Malaki stood up to look the king up and down. "Forgive me for playing the fool before, but I had to be sure." The night wing asked. "Your like me right? You see things. How else did you know where to find me. How did you manage it? How do you keep yourself from losing your sanity?"

It didn't take long for Baldirak to realize this NightWing was Malaki. It surprised him that a dragon who had been so nervous before, was the exact opposite now. He even dared to speak laxly to the King. "Fiction?" It was not a term the EarthWing was familiar with, at least not when speaking of scrolls. Perhaps he meant legend or myth. And what was a book? "I haven't much time for reading. But in the mornings and evenings I read the laws of Astralogy." Then Malaki asked of the King's own ability. "I see the past and future. But our meeting here was pure coincidence. From what you said before, it seems our abilities differ. Your visions are ever-changing. What could be. Mine are absolute, what will be. The only burden I bear with my sight is exhaustion if it is prolonged. It was overwhelming when I was young and experienced it for the first time. But I learned my limitations with it."

The kings surprise at his word caught Malaki off guard. He had thought a king would have been educated enough to know that Fiction, was the exact opposite of fact. But after a moments thought remembering his days as a hatching growing up in night wing school back in the capital he remembered how his teachers preached about other tribes were less educated and tail dragging savages.

He did not want to believe it, but it seemed very much true at the moment. How this dragon became a king responsible for his tribe and there future suddenly became a dark thought on his mind. Upon hearing that the king of the alliance only found time to read about astralogy also deepened his dark thoughts. Malaki had no love for the goddess. He had no love for the "All Mother" as his adoptive mother always use to call the goddess. The supposed mother of the night wings.

After listening to the king Malaki's eye ridges furrowed in a frown. "Such arrogance, your visions are absolute, what will be. So confident you sound, like you never have faced doubt in your life. Yet you say you came here out of chance. You did not see, yet I saw what you did not. A possibility that you would come, what could be. Your life but a single thread overlapping other threads in the great tapestry that is life. I had hoped you could teach me how to maintain my grip on reality and not be lost in all the visions."

At that the night wing turned away to look off into the horizon of the glowing ocean in the bay. "As you said yourself, our abilities differ. What can you teach me? It seems I am doomed like the prophets of stories past to drowned and go mad in the ocean of visions. Doomed to go feral and linger in a cave somewhere painting images on walls and muttering to myself."

The Twilight King narrowed his pale eyes at Malaki. "There is much I could teach you, NightWing. Such as never to warp the truth of another to fit your own. You think me arrogant, overconfident? You are confident that I am here purely because you saw it. My sight may differ from yours, but they are not unalike. I will help you, such is my duty to another who has received some variant of Kayin's power. Such is my duty as your King." Baldirak turned to walk away. He stopped and regarded the bay for a moment. Its glow shone on the scar on his right foreleg. "I would have a word with the Scholar who decided abandon scrolls for books. Books are objects of those wretched humans. I don't want to see one in my presence again." With that, the King took to the air and returned to the Isle which he and his mate dwelled on.

The kings words bit hard but were none the less true. Hanging his head low in shame Malaki replied. "My apologies, I'm not normally like this. Its just all these monsters running around, my mom being missing, all these stupid things I see messing with my head. I guess its still no excuse for my behavior."

"It is not my place to question, I would be eternally grateful for whatever you can teach me my king. Oh yes," He said in remembrance of the seeds he had gathered in the swamp. He had originally planned to bring them back to the night wing capital but that was obviously not going to happen. He believed the king would know how to best use the seeds for the rare healing plant.

"I don't have much love for humans either, they kind of scare me. Still books are wonderful." Malaki said as he rummaged through his bags looking for the seeds. "I dare say I would have gone mad a long time ago if I did not have books to help me escape the world. That and out at the colonies in the middle of nowhere there is not much else to do but read. They take so long for scholars to make though."

"A ha!" Malaki said triumphantly as he pulled out a small leather pouch full of seeds. "I have a gift for", it seemed to late as the saw the king up and leaving. "You....." He trailed the last word. Pausing for a moment the night wing was trying to decide if the king wanted him to follow him.

Malaki did wonder though as to how any guardians would react to seeing a night wing following and trailing the king. They were the kind of dragons that would attack first and ask questions later if they saw him as a threat. Still, the way Malaki figured it. The seeds he had were doing no good were they were. He was pretty sure that they would be put to better use under the kings control.

Shoving the pouch of seeds back into a satchel Malaki started to run along the beach and flapping his wings to get off the ground. "Hey wait! I have a gift for you!" Now going over the water he beat his wings harder and kicked  his legs as if they would help give more lift. "Wait! By the gods for a old lizard your fast". Malaki grumbled and tried to keep the kings figure in his sight.

Off on the horizon though he could see some flashes in the sky."I really hope I don't get caught in that storm......" The night wing thought.

OCC: Want my guy to follow you? If not I can get him lost in the storm

((Yeah, he can follow.))

Baldirak didn't hear Malaki's call over the beating of his wings and the roar of the ocean. He eventually came to the small island he and Kenina lived on. Vilkas was keeping watching outside the den and greeted his uncle before going off to his own den on the other side of the island. Baldirak checked on Kenina then sat just outside. He watched the storm forming over the ocean.

Malaki flew as hard as he could, but he just could not keep up with the king. Somewhere along the line he lost sight of the kings figure and got caught in the storm. Rain fell down so hard it obscured his view, lighting was crashing visibly uniting the earth and sky.

Even the four winds seemed to conspire against the night wing as he was battered not only from all sides, but from above as well as below. It was a struggle for life to stay air born against the assault. More then once Malaki had thought it would have been easier just to give in and let himself fall into the sea. But his will to live was strong.

At some point the winds shifted with the heavy rain and a island could been in the horizon. Malaki focused on that island not because of the king, but because it was much more preferable then sea. The lighting was increasing and the night wing was made aware that he was at risk of being hit by it at any moment.

It seemed forever in the midst of battling the elements but the island was in reach and quickly Malaki brought his wings in close to his body to land on the nearest land he could, a beach. With his lungs burning with exertion he started to run across the sand towards the safety of the tree line of the island jungle, but with a loud crack and a flash of light a bolt of lightning hit the sand right in front of the night wing causing him to skid to a stop.

The very sand itself was melted to glass from the force behind the impact. Malaki turned to run in a different direction and again a bolt of lightning hit the sand to block his path. It almost seemed controlled as one and after another direction, his path was blocked by a bolt of lighting.

He was trapped in the electrical storm in the open with no clear path to escape. After a moment several bolts hit the ground and maintained there current in a visible line from sky to earth to move in slowly toward Malaki from all directions. Folding his wings in close to his body the night wing did a roll and escaped just as the beams of electrical currents all came together right were he was standing and exploded in a shock wave.

Malaki went flying through the air from the force of it and landed in the forested island jungle not far away, his body steaming from the heat of the energy shockwaves impact. Malaki was laying on his side and his feet and fore claws twitched for a bit, but after a moment he groaned and stirred. Pushing himself up with his fore claws first the night wing forced himself to stand up on all fours just as the rain started to fall down heavy again.

"Did not SEE that coming", he muttered in confusion and staggered off in look for some shelter from the cold rain.

Vilkas was making his way to his den when he noticed a rather odd electrical storm on the beach. He wandered over, undeterred by a little lightning. The spikey scaled demigod stopped at the top of a dune and looked down. A storm like this was bound to produced glass. Maybe he could make something of it to give to the Queen. He doubted it would cheer her up, but maybe she'd appreciate the attempt at least. But what was this? There on the beach was a NightWing. The lightning seemed to have a mind of its own as it struck the sand around the smaller Dragon.

Vilkas was going to try to help when the NightWing was suddenly thrown. Judging by the rumbling in the earth from what was no doubt the NightWing landing, Vilkas figured he ended up in the forest. He went off in that area and soon found the unfortunate beast just as the rain began. "You ought to try appeasing Kelarth unless you want that to happen again. What is the nature of your message?" The Guardian asked, assuming the NightWing was here to deliver a message to the King.

Malaki was a bit cautious and tensed up bit at the arrival of the other dragon. He had come to understand in the past that lots of dragons were territorial and did not like others in there territory. Thankfully that did not seem to be the case with this one. "While normally I would say something nasty about the gods I think this is probably there way of trying to humble my heart." The night wing said as he looked up at the sky and the flashes.

"I am not a messenger sadly, sorry to disappoint. I was trying to follow the king but got lost in that storm. Its a miracle I even came across this island. Better then getting hit by lightning and falling into the sea to drown. I am Malaki" With that he gave a brief but polite bow in the usual courtly way that night wings did. "If it is not to much trouble may I rest here in your territory until the storm passes?"

"I promise I will not make a nuisance of myself, and for the kindness of shelter I would be more then happy to return in full. I am a healer in training and would be more then happy to help you in any way I can if needed. Be it just you, or your family unit".