The Search (Open to All)

Hildrhilt lay on a bed of brush, dozing lightly as the fatigue of the day had worn her down. Every little sound drove her from a light sleep, a simple snap of a branch, a rustle in the leaves. It could be anything. Anything that could harm her. Without the protection of her tribe, she was very vulnerable and that thought scared her.

Why did I fly away like I was told? She thought to herself as she shifted her weight slightly, a small rustle waking her. She should have stood her ground and tried to defend her tribe, why did she have to be so skiddish? With a heavy sigh, she closed her bright orbs, attempting to drift into the welcome arms of sleep.

Monsters had attacked her tribe, driving away any who were not as strong as the guardians, which included Hildrhilt, and now she didn't know where she was. She flew as far and fast as her wings could carry her, mind only occupied with keeping herself safe. The dreams haunted her at night, much like this nap she attempted, and sleep was a fickle friend.

The Twilight King scanned the barren landscape near the border of the FireWing homeland. His pale eyes saw a group of monsters running down a group of humans. To the west, toward the coast, a larger beast feasted on the corpse of a dragon. Were it not suicide to take on the thing alone, Baldirak would have avenged his fallen kin. But the EarthWing had ventured out alone this day, without his Royal Guard, or any of the ElderWings. He had insisted on going alone. More than anything, he wanted some time to himself to think. To the south, the land gave way to some life. A forest... It may provide some refugee from these monsters... Baldirak landed at the edge of it, taking are not to land too heavily on his right foreleg. There were times when he didn't mind his people seeing his weakness. But to show it in this monster-infested wilderness would mean his death. And so the King placed full weight on the injured limb as he walked through the trees. He looked around, sniffed the air. His paws waited to feel vibrations in the earth that could only come from a dragon.

Hildrhilt's breath hitched within her ribs as the sound of wing beats met her ears, her bright orbs snapping open. Whoever or whatever it was flying closer, it was large, much larger than her and this caused the leaves to rustle around her slightly as her air bending ability threatened to begin to spin the air around her. She fought the urge and remained still, head down and body un-moving besides the slight rise and fall of her breath.

She heard the beast land, the vibrations only slight but she knew that her position may have been compromised, causing the creature to sneak. Her head lifted slightly as the muscles tensed in her wings, the sound of the approach causing her heart to race, breathing becoming heavier. If it was what she hoped it wasn't, she would crash through the canopy above to get away.

As the form moved through the brush in front of her, she tensed, a hissing growl escaping her throat as the spines on the side of her jaw stood on end. She was scared, knowing this could be her final day, the wind beginning to swirl around her slightly as the vortex began to spin.

As the EarthWing surveyed the forest, he noticed the wind behaving strangely. That is to say, there was no wind. The air was still at the moment, as evidenced by the unmoving leaves in the trees around him. However, there was a group of trees whose leaves were moving... Their branches, too, were creaking and swaying, as if a storm were on its way. Baldirak's first thought--his only one, rather--was that this were a SkyWing; as far as he knew, no monsters manipulated the elements. "It's alright. There aren't any monsters around."

Hildrhilt tensed as the form moved closer yet when it spoke, there was a familiar boom to its sound. The vortex suddenly ceased to be and the breeze began to blow as normal, Hildrhilt raising her head, Eyes squinting to make sense of the voice she heard, "K...King Baldirak?" She asked, her velvety voice tainted with concern as she slowly stood, Her well muscled legs still tensed for a quick take-off if she needed.

The Twilight King's pale eyes narrowed slightly as the Dragon addressed him. So it wasn't a Rogue. This was either a member of the alliance, or perhaps one from the Order of Starlights that had heard of him. "Yes, I am King Baldirak of the Twilight Imperium and EarthWing Tribe," he announced, not sure which it was he spoke to. "What is your name and Tribe?"

Hildrhilt folded her wings gently against her sides before making her way forward, her slender frame pushing past the brush that was between the two of them, keeping her head slightly lowered in respect to her king, "It is I, Hildrhilt, your highness." She said in a timid manner, "Of the Earthwing tribe."

Hildrhilt was smaller in stature to the mighty Baldirak, being only a small portion Earthwing, yet she was larger than any Skywing even though her color mainly favored the Skywings in color. The deep earthy undertones at the base of her scales being the only indicator of any form of Earthwing, despite the large patch of autumn gold scales in the middle of her forehead between her large horns.

"Another Child of Earth... And here I was beginning to think Astral had allowed them all to be slain by those beasts." The 142ft tall EarthWing lowered his head to the smaller Dragon's eye level. The white Moonstone and Astralogy talisman around his neck clattered a bit before settling again. "Hildrhilt. What is your rank?"

Hildrhilt listened as her king spoke, drawing her head back as she shifted her weight in slight discomfort. She had never been this close to him and his size intimidated her, "I..I am simply a Citizen, your highness." She said in a quiet tone, her voice staggering slightly.

Not very many dragons can say they speak with their king, and she hated that she has the privilege to say she had. She did not like drawing attention to herself and took pride in the fact that not many knew her simply because she enjoyed having time to herself, "May I ask you a question, my lord?" She asked, fearing his reaction to her curiosity.

Baldirak detected some degree of nervousness in Hildrhilt. Whether it was fear of a monster attack, his being King, or simply his size--few EarthWings remained that were as large as he--he couldn't be sure. Perhaps it was a combination of the three. "Speak freely," he said in an almost paternal tone.

Hildrhilt heard his tone shift, it was soothing yet she still remained on edge, taking a single step back before she momentarily met his gaze, lifting her head slightly, "Why do you travel alone?" She asked, turning her eyes to her surroundings, "Have that many of our tribe truly...perished?"

She did not want to think of the latter question, though she disliked socializing, she cared for her tribe and all of the dragons within it, even if she hadn't actually met very many of them.

"I did not see myself running into any monsters on this outing, so I decided to go alone. And yes... all were nearly wiped out by these beasts. I watched many of our alliance perish before me... and nearly died, myself. Only the ElderWings survived intact. Perhaps it is their island that protected them... They say the remnants of Shardas' magic is greatest there." Baldirak raised his head. "Come. Staying in one place too long is not a good idea." He turned to walk out of the forest and made his way back to the clearing, where he would have more room to spread his wings.

Hildrhilt listened to her king's words, lowering her head in sadness as the thought of her tribe being nearly wiped out filled her head. It upset her. Why did she have to run? If she had stayed and fought, it may have saved a few lives. Instead she was a coward, running, thinking of only herself. Her king even took damage, her unique orbs flickering to his leg but decided not to speak of it.

Hildrhilt followed Baldirak, keeping a respectable distance yet stayed closer than she normally would have, unease still filling her being, remaining silent as she padded alongside him.

A 94ft tall creature strode across the earth, making it rumble with its heavy steps. In its right hand, it carried a spiked club. It had two great horns that adorned either side of its head, horns that curved downward like tusks. Another horn sat atop its head, slightly curved. Its mouth and nose formed a rather odd shape--it appeared as if he wore a helmet, but did not. Its eyes were like fire, a bright orange. The grooves with its horns, too, seemed to glow, alight with flames. Sharp spines of varying sizes started at its forehead and went down its back. If your sense of smell was good, or you just happened to get close enough, you would realize this creature smelt of ash. One would assume this creature was just another monster. In reality, it was a dragon; Vilkas, son of former EarthWing semi-godddess, Rylatha, and FireWing, Vyur. One of his mother's semi-god powers had been shapeshifting. Vilkas had inherited this trait from her.

Vilkas had learned that while in his mutant form, the monsters that had invaded his world left him alone, for the most part. They thought he was one of them. It didn't stop the more powerful monsters from messing with him, but the weaker ones stayed away. Every once in a while, an Orge would challenge him. And so, he decided to look for his uncle this way.

Mae followed closely behind Vilkas. The Mainlander was none too thrilled to have her along. But Siris had had no problem with it, and Vilkas wasn't one to argue with an elder. "So, Vilkas, your mother was an Ilosei, right?" It was the third time the Scribe had asked the question. She wanted to know more about how power was passed from Ilosei (semi-gods) to their offspring. The ElderWings had once had an Ilosei, though no one had known it at the time. But Ilos had never had offspring, so the concept of demi-gods--for which the ElderWings have yet to conceive of a word--is lost to them. But Vilkas wasn't interested in answering her question. Perhaps because he was just focused on looking out for monsters. Or maybe he didn't like having her tag along with him. Whatever it was, she decided to drop it for now.

Vilkas stopped when he noticed two Dentem Magni between himself and his uncle. They were big enough to be a threat to dragons. At least Vilkas, his uncle, and Mae had a size advantage. The three of them also meant the giant snakes were outnumbered. Wait... there was another dragon. Vilkas was only just able to make them out between the trees and his significantly taller unlce. Okay, so there were four dragons against two Dentem Magni... assuming this other one was capable of fighting. Vilkas glanced over his shoulder at Mae. She was somewhat the equivalent of a Scholar. Vilkas had never considered anyone of that rank one to rely on in a fight. Given the nature of the ElderWings, he figured that was true of Mae as well. "There's trouble between us and Uncle--uh, King Baldirak. Help if you can, but otherwise, try to stay back."

Hildrhilt strolled beside Baldirak, keeping her eyes forward as they moved forward to the clearing. Her mind was wandering slightly as she began to think about random, meaningless things before the vibrations met her paws, her steps faltering slightly. She picked up her finely boned head to gaze forward, nostrils quivering slightly as her petite body tensed, “King Baldirak…” She said softly, her pace slowing, “Something’s wrong.”

As she spoke, her eyes fell upon four figures, two significantly smaller than the others, yet the smell that greeted her keen senses caused a soft hiss to escape from between her teeth. The spines on the backside of her jaw began stand as they normally did when she felt threatened. The wind promptly began to move at a quicker pace, flowing around Baldirak as it began to form itself to Hildrhilt, blowing at about twenty miles per hour.

Two Dentem Magni stood in their path, the two dragons not far on the opposite side. Hildrhilt hoped that these dragons would be willing to help, though she was sure that they were nothing like the cowardess she was. But today she would make up for running from the monsters before. Today she would show her king that she could be useful to him rather than a simpleton.

Hildrhilt moved ahead of Baldirak a bit and began to spread her wings, panic setting into her yet she pushed it aside with a growl, she would not back down. Not in front of her king.

The two giant snakes, known to the inhabitants of Pyrria as Dentem Magni, were yet unaware of the dragons. They were fighting amongst themselves. Whether they were fighting over a kill or a mate, one couldn't be sure. What was apparent was that the two groups of dragons that flanked them couldn't slip past unnoticed.

Baldirak saw the Dentem Magni long before Hildrhilt said anything. One of the advantages of being 142ft tall was you didn't need to rely on your other senses to know when something was coming. Although, he too had felt the vibrations in the earth from their movement. He had also identified a familiar vibration, that of his nephew, Vilkas. He saw the younger dragon across the clearing with one of the ElderWings, Mae. Vilkas was in his mutant form. At least he would be safe if he decided not to engage the snakes. Baldirak turned his head to look at Hildrhilt. "There is trouble, yes, but also some help. Dentem Magni. Two of them. They are big enough to be dangerous to us, but we have numbers on our side.. My nephew and one of the ElderWings is on the other side of them." But as the Twilight King spoke, Hildrhilt moved past him and spread her wings as she took a defensive stance. Perhaps she wants to make up for the past. But now wasn't a time to be brave. Baldirak stepped around the Citizen and reared up on his hind legs...

Vilkas saw his uncle rear up and spread his wings. He gave a slight nod before shifted back to his normal form and took to the air. He flew right to the giant snakes, who by now had become aware of the dragons. Vilkas stayed just above their vertical strike range and just before he passed over them, he fired flaming rocks at them. The rocks hit their underbellies as they rose to strike. It didn't do more than irritate them, but then, it wasn't supposed to. Vilkas was merely doing what his uncle had asked: keep them distracted.

Hildrhilt moved to the right as she felt Baldirak move around her, turning her golden orbs toward him for a moment before her gaze fell upon the other two, nodding to his words. She watched as who she guessed was Baldirak’s nephew take to the sky, her wings tingling for the sensation of flight, flinching slightly as the flaming balls hit the serpentine creatures before them, the heat quite intense.

Hildrhilt remained stationary, shifting her weight between her four paws, almost as though she was prancing in place due to anticipation and adrenaline with her fear waiting anxiously on the sideline. Her wings remained spread as she awaited any type of signal as to what she was supposed to do, nostrils flared as the spines on her jaw persisted to stand on end. She continued to watch the other dragon, only wishing she was as fearless as he was.

The Earth King, before the Twilight Reckoning, had been working with the Imperium's army to perfect a new system. One could not always afford the luxury of stopping to give out orders in the middle of battle, so Baldirak felt a non-verbal form of communication was needed. Since telepathy was beyond the capabilities of mere mortals, signals would be used instead. Most of the monsters were simple, instinct-driven. But a few had the intelligence, theoretically, to pick up on this. For this reason, Baldirak had worked extensively with his nephew--when mind and body allowed--to come up with multiple signals for the same set of orders.

The Dentem Magni were one of those beasts that Baldirak didn't have to worry about deciphering the EarthWings' combat code. With Vilkas distracting the giant snakes, the Twilight King turned his attention to his other subject; Hildrhilt was shifting back and forth on her paws and it was wreaking havoc on his right forepaw and leg. "Are you capable of fighting?"

Hildrhilt flapped her wings in the slightest manner of stretching, her hide almost quivering from the amount of adrenaline coursing through her being. As one of the Dentem Magni turned to look at her, Hildrhilt's nostrils flared, her ears greeted with the voice of her king, blinking slowly for a moment, "Not well, sir." She tilted her head slightly and quickly, almost as though she shrugged, "Well...honestly no. I have never fought before." She stammered, tail flicking slightly as the monster hissed in her direction.

Hildrhilt felt foolish, what dragon could ever say with pride they never fought a battle in their life? None, she would presume. Her wings lowered slightly in disappointment in herself. Baldirak must think her useless, the thought causing her to back away from the monster slowly, not wanting to get in the way of the other dragons.

Tharasis flew high above the sky, the scent of the two Dentem Magni he had been tracking was finally getting close to him. The scent ever more became stronger as he flew. But it was not just the Dentem Magni scent he could now smell, but 4 new scent had now entered his nostrils and he identified it as dragons.

He dived down from the clouds the edge of his wings producing lines of white smoke. He came down fast but recovered quickly with 3 strong beats of his wings. The two monsters were surrounded by 4 dragons, 1 of which was flying over them shooting some sort of projectile.

Tharasis came closer yet sticking under the cover of the white clouds. His head slightly visible out only to see what was going on below him.

Tharasis continues to survey the situation above the clouds, waiting for the perfect chance to strike.

Tharasis stats:

The presence of another Dragon was not lost to the King. He had heard the wingbeats and smelled it; now he saw it hiding in the clouds as he glanced upward. But he couldn't be bothered with a Dragon that decided to keep its distance and observe while its kin was engaged in battle.

Vilkas, meanwhile, had been caught by one of the Dentem Magni as he flew over for another attack. It grasped his rear left leg. Luckily for him, his legs were covered with enough of the same spiky scales that covered the rest of his body to prevent the snake from being able to bite into him. However, as Vilkas tried to get away from it, the second shot up and grabbed enough limb. The snakes were strong enough to keep the young EarthWing from flying off and taking them with him. Because Vilkas was limited in how he could move now, he couldn't quite use his tail to strike at them. He could use his fire to keep the one holding his foreleg at bay long enough to free himself from the other...

Mae considered her options. As the Scribe, she had to chronicle things like this. On the other paw, she could help here. Siris had given her permission to aid the Mainlanders if they required it. She did have more knowledge of these creatures than the others did; afterall, she had read the Kreu Scrolls. Unlike Durval and even Siris, however, Mae didn't have access to her breath... She did have her magic, though... The ElderWing chronicler tucked her stone tablets away into the safety of the pouch around her neck and flew in to help Vilkas.

Baldirak had hoped the EarthWing might be able to help in this situation. It was a little much to hope that all survivors that didn't already have some combat experienced might have gained some when the world fell. This would hinder the King's ability to help his nephew and their ElderWing companion, though. These skirmishes between Dragon and monster usually tended to attract unwanted attention. There was no guarantee Hildrhilt would be safe if he left her here in the forest. Abandoning her was out of the question. Baldirak wasn't sure just how powerful the ElderWings were... Could Mae take on the Dentem Magni by herself? He wouldn't allow it even if she could, however. Such a feat was reserved for gods... and brave or foolish kings. "You must stay hidden, then. If you have to flee, then do so. Fly to the southeast. There are a series of islands belonging to the NightWings. The remnants of the alliance have settled there. If you should come across anyone, tell them to send help for us."

Mere seconds after the King said this, there was a rumbling in the earth. A third, much bigger snake breached to the left of the valley. It set its sights on the fight and slithered in that direction. Mae had just reached the two smaller Dentem Magni and was preparing to strike the one holding Vilkas' rear leg. She broke off her attack when the larger one appeared. In turn, the two smaller snakes released their prey and slithered off as fast as they could. Vilkas was caught off guard by the arrival and suddenly being let go to recover and keep from falling. By the time he recovered, the actually giant snake was upon him. In cobra fashion it rose up and pulled back to strike at the downed Dragon.

Vikas had fallen on his back, exposing his stomach, with enough force that his scales dug into the ground. Without a little nudge, he couldn't get up by himself. He braced himself for the attack--it was all he could do. Instead, two things happened. First, he was surrounded by a magical barrier. Next, the snake was stopped from attacking by a thin, whip-like tail that had wrapped around just behind its head. It took Baldirak twice as much effort as it would have with the small snakes to keep this one from pulling away.

Mae was glad she had managed to get the barrier up in time. From the looks of it, the EarthWing Ilos wouldn't be able to hold that snake for long She had to hurry and help Vilkas. Her barrier wouldn't survive even one strike from that thing, but it was the best she could manage. Hey, she was a Scribe, not a GateKeeper.

Hildrhilt stood and listened to her king’s words, every fiber within her being was telling her to listen yet she held fast. Simply nodding, Hildrhilt took to the skies, the wind swirling around her in a vortex style spin around her body, spinning faster with each beat of her wings.

She would assist, even though she did not know much. Her eyes narrowed as she stared upon the dragon that lay upon the ground, a slight hiss escaping as she lunged forward. She did not know what would happen next yet she knew that in some way she would make up for leaving her kind behind in a status of emergency. She would die trying to save this dragon, though she knew he was perfectly capable of doing this alone if it were only one serpent.

With a roar that made the ground tremble, she moved to hover above the dragon, lowering only slightly to allow the eighty mile per hour wind deter the serpent long enough to allow the dragon to rise, her eyes fixated upon the creatures around her. She was insane for doing such a bold thing yet she knew it would help, even if it were just to distract the creatures.

Tharasis peeked again through the skies. The rapidly deteriorating situation caught him by surprise, just when he thought that they could hold on to themselves a much large opponent stepped in and quickly changed the tide of battle to the monsters.

Tharasis flew higher then after hovering for a few seconds dived down. Picking up speed as he did, as he burst forth the cloud cover leaving behind a small trail of smoke. He had his sights set on the large snake, like a hawk about to strike its prey Tharasis using his speed and momentum would ram the snakes head. Every second that passed he came closer and closer. should he succeed he would crush if not break this snakes skull.

Vilkas had been saved by his Uncle but was no more safe than he was a few seconds ago. He was still stuck on his back, his underbelly still exposed. At least he had this shield around him; he would have to thank Mae later. Suddenly, another dragon appeared. She hovered over him, he guessed because of the barrier. He looked around and noticed the grass blowing around erratically. It wasn't windy... so where was the wind coming from? Maybe her? But there was no time to ponder that.

The snake hissed and began coiling around the Earth King. Baldirak continued to use his tail to keep the snake from being able to strike. It was becoming difficult, however, as the snake's body wound around his and began to constrict. Though Baldirak could move his neck still, he couldn't bite the beast without risking getting himself bit. He could use acid, but his nephew was only half EarthWing; he didn't want to harm him. As the King considered his options--which swiftly became limited when he realized his wings were beneath the snake's body--he noticed two things. One, Hildrhilt had ignored his order to stay hidden in the forest. Second. the dragon that had arrived earlier was now dive-bombing straight for Hildrhilt and Vilkas. He must have been planning to hit the Dentem Magni. Apparently, he didn't take into account the fact that his target could and most likely would move. While the snake had been where Hildrhilt and Vilkas were, it had turned its attention to Baldirak. The giant EarthWing was a good 50ft away from his nephew. "Hildrhilt! Above you!" the King yelled in hopes she would move in time.

Mae was happy to see another Mainlander jump in to help. While they helped Vilkas, the Scribe changed course to help the Ilos. Her plan was to attack the snake's eyes. She had just reached him when Baldirak called out to the newcomer. It was then she saw the second Mainlander diving toward Vilkas and the other Baldirak had called Hildrhilt. It was too late for Mae to create a second barrier around Hildrhilt; it wouldn't have helped much at the speed the dive-bomber was moving. She had no time to cast a spell that would call on the winds to shift his course; Durval wouldn't arrive in time to intervene even if she had the time to call him; she didn't have permission from Siris to use her breath. All she could do was watch and hope the three Mainlanders survived the impact.

Tharasis was so close, everything was beginning to slow down. As the adrenaline rushed through his body, but it all came collapsing on him once he noticed his target had moved so quickly. The dentem magni had now collide itself to the large dragon, realising now his mistake he had to break from his dive. Worst yet another dragon had now flown into his direction.

With the his current speed he had little time to spare, quickly he twisted his body from the C dive he had into a straight line. Beating with all his might he changed in a random heading, bearly missing the dragon that he could have hit. He sighed in relief but it all faded quick as a rush of both pain and shook courses through his body.

He had crashed into the ground, his body was sent skidding through the soil and rocks. He eventually stopped leaving behind a trail of brown earth that left a slice in the green grass.

He felt... numb.. as if he had losed the feeling of his entire body. But still felt the cuts and scratches that were on his body. He laid there, he couldn’t get up no matter how hard he tried. He laid his head on the ground as if he tried to rest. And slowly but surly he recovered the feeling of his body. And felt the aching pain, his body ached especially his head and belly as well as his front limbs. He wanted to yell, but he just couldn’t. All he could utter was a groun of discomfort.

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