Ophidian Vale (IC)

ϴ℘♄☤∂ḯαᾔ Ṽαʟε

Tharan walked off onto a cliff overlooking a valley. Against the cliff were many temples made of various stone types and marble. They were filled with treasure, gems, crystals, silver... mostly silver though. The temples were lit ablaze with smoldering flames. The fire dragons however were already escaping, haven taken what they needed. They were already lifting off into the air and were gone. Tharan growled, pounding at the ground. He flew down to the ground, being followed by Bella. The two of them landed on the ground and met Dargal who had a large gash on his arm, a burn. He limped over to them.

"Where were you two! I needed you!" he said. "I'm sorry Dargal, even on wings I couldn't get here in time" Tharan said, his white eyes glowing as Dargal's wounds began to heal slowly. He gave out a breath of relief as Tharan did so. "How much did they steal?"
"A lot! So, so much!" Dargal replied. He looked over at the moon, seeing a few shapes flying out into the distance. "I think you can still catch them" he said. "They're flying over the ocean. We can't risk the treasure falling into the water. Unless you don't care and just want them dead" Tharan added, with a confused face. "Then just follow them, we can't afford to lose that! That's sacred treasure the Elders and the people have collected for centuries to help the dragonfolk. We have to gain it back!"

Tharan nodded. "Satho should be here soon. He'll heal you. Bella, let's go take care of these pests" Tharan said with a slight grin. Bella nodded as the two lifted off into the air and began to follow.

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A lean black dragoness walked along the ledges of a volcanic spire that stood splitting a cluster of many volcanoes. She was at the top of the black tower, glancing at the stone altar in the middle of the roof that had a large red crystal in the middle of it. She placed a claw on it, then both of her hands. "If only I knew how to open you..." she said to the inanimate crystal. "Hmmm..." she hummed as she thought. "Perhaps the other Decicrates will know..."

She walked to the edges and roared as loud as she could, a booming shock-wave being sent throughout the Vale. Even Tharan heard it, who was hundreds of miles away, but he paid no mind. Suddenly, in the Wastelands, a charred up forgotten land in the Vale, ground was uprooted as beings began to crawl forth. They were large undead dragons, their flesh rotted and tampered with rags and cloth that bound them together. They flew high into the air and vanished reappearing in the air above the tower and landing down below.

"Fellow necromancers, evildoers, and corruption-ists" Naloma began as the last of the seven Decicrates landed. "It has come to my attention that one of the greatest dragons has been imprisoned behind the Vault... It is my mission to free him and if you wish to stay alive, it will be yours as well" she said. The undead dragons nodded.

"I think we all know who I am talking about. He was once a Hallow, but he defiled his title like you and became a Decicrate. Tharan destroyed his physical body and sent his spirit to rot in the Vault forever. Recently I discovered after reading a few ancient tablets in one of the old Elder Monasteries that there are several ways to open Vaults and release the spirit inside. However the tablet was cracked and parts were broken off, so I could not read exactly how... That's your job. Find out how to open the Vault and bring me Tharan, Son of Orion! Keep him alive though, he is The Master's for the taking!" she snarled, grinning darkly. The dark undead flew up into the air and were gone. Naloma sat laughing but it soon faded as all of those bad memories of her past were brought back. She scowled, seeking blood to be repaid.

"Tenebris, you promised you'd let me go out today!" Albus wailed, his voice pathetic. "Albus, there are strange dragons wandering around outside the cave, and they don't look friendly. I can't afford to lose you. You mean everything to me, and you know that." The black dragon said, looking at his baby brother. He wasn't a baby anymore, but he was still young. Albus' eyes continued to tear up, "But you promised!" He cried. "You can go out when they have gone, but until then, you stay in the cave where it's safe." Albus tried to dry his eyes, but a faint sob escaped him, "There are always strange dragons outside." He said, "When will they go away?" Tenebris sighed, "I don't know, but I don't want you near them, I don't want you to get hurt."

Albus thumped one of his feet on the ground, disturbing a small pile of gold in the hoard. His brother was rich, but Albus had learned a year ago that he got it by stealing. He didn't really approve of his big brother stealing, but at the same time, he would never go against anything Tenebris said. There was a tense silence, before Tenebris sighed in surrender, "Fine, you may go outside today, but the instant you find trouble, you come straight back here." Albus immediately brightened, "Yes!" He said, jumping around excitedly. "Now get out, I have work to do. Off you go." Tenebris shooed him off.

He was a monster. Not by spirit, but by body. All he could do on the crust was burn. He was constantly reminded of this fact. He had grown accustomed to the continuous sizzling sounds of his molten feet walking on grass. Harroc didn't like being a hot mess, literally. He checked behind him, moving his flamaing tail out of the way of the way, and positioned his head so he could see over the scorched air that radiated off his body. Looking through the heat warped the image of things he was looking at. He had come when he noticed that several dragons had been flying away in flocks. Each carrying something, althoug he could not tell what.

The living inferno rumbled like one of the Earth's many fault lines, and dipped his head down into the dirt, and shoveled it in to his burning body. The solid Polonium core that was the equivalent of his heart supplied radioactive energy to his molten form, energy in the form of heat, which kept his body from growing cold. While it sucked to be fire, it was also pretty neat at times, to never be hurt, to never feel real pain, outside of water of course.

He looked behind himself once again, noticing scorch marks on the earth where his feet were, but nothing was on fire, yet. Which was good. He didn't want to burn down a forest unless he was fighting another dragon, in which case he could blend in to the surroundings and become harder to spot.

He remembered what it was like to come to the crust. He compared it to giving birth in a way, as it was extremely painful. He had come up with a new island and therefor was underwater when he breached the mantle. Being cooled very fast was not fun. He had to 'jump' out of the water, which scared the living hell out of a lot of dragons when a ball of flames shot out of the ocean then landed in the middle of a forest and left nothing but a crater. He wished he had stayed to see the looks on their faces, although, he really couldn't go back now. That was a week ago.

Albus had not expected to wander into the dragon. All he knew was that it was a lot larger than him, and that it was eating soil. It looked like a living volcano, practically made from lava, and the heat radiated from it, distorting the air around it. Albus was scared of it, but at the same time, it didn't look hostile, although it left a trail of fire wherever it walked. Eventually, curiosity overcame his fear, and the tiny white dragon came out from behind the rock. "Uh...hello, sir?" He said, his timid voice making the greeting sound like a question. Even though a full-grown dragon could be tiny, like Tenebris, it was obvious by the sound of his voice that Albus was young. He was worried, though. Tenebris wouldn't like it if he knew he was talking to a stranger.

The voice surprised Harroc, causing the living inferno to cough, sending flames and flaming dirt out of his maw. When he finished coughing, he turned to the voice's general direction, and saw nothing, he looked down, and saw the small dragon. It was young, and white like his internal flames. He didn't get too close to the dragon, as he would hurt it, and his heat would surely either burn or make the dragon very uncomfortable. "Ava'yorn, svaust re wux?" he said, speaking his species tongue. He didn't know much of the over worldly language yet, in fact, all he knew was 'My name is Harroc.' He mentally slapped himself for speaking in his language to the over worlder. "M-my... name is... Harroc." He said, trying to make form words correctly.

Albus only understood part of what the dragon had said, when he said that his name was Harroc. He tilted his head to one side, and considered this for a moment. Harroc didn't seem to be hostile, but at the same time, the halting way he had spoken suggested he didn't speak an awful lot of the same language as Albus. This could make things really difficult, but he might as well try to communicate. "My name is Albus." He said, aware that the dragon would understand that sentence perfectly. "Nice to meet you." He said. For emphasis on the meaning, he wagged his tail slowly. He wished Tenebris were here, his big brother spoke multiple languages, and he was sure he would have understood the tongue Harroc spoke.

Harroc cocked his head. While he didn't speak most of this strange, new language, he didn't understand it. "Wux tepoha itrewica ekess qe kidding ve." he breathed, unaware that this new speech had some derivative in his own. The 'kidding' in his language was the same as the one in the other. This he did not know. Limited exposure to this other language had left him clueless to what the little dragon was trying to say, but he picked up the unassertive assertion.

"Albus?" He repeated, making sure that was a name instead of the new language this young dragon was speaking to.

Albus nodded, "My name." he said. Although the dragon's language was odd, the fact that he had used the word 'kidding', along with the familiar tone, gave a pretty clear message of what the dragon's sentence was. Suddenly, though, Albus felt very nervous, and looked over his shoulder. Over in a corner, there was a shadow on the ground. It didn't belong there, and there was nothing casting it. Albus lowered his head, frightened, "Oh, no..." he said quietly, alarmed. Tenebris had told him not to talk to strange dragons, and he was checking on him, to make sure he was listening. He had disobeyed his big brother, and from the way the shadow quivered, he could tell that Tenebris was very angry. "Tenebris...big brother...please..." He said, his bright blue eyes pleading.

"wux! itrewic mojka de sia moxt isthasy! jaci ui ti ekess ukris ekess bvecko darastrixi!" Tenebris yelled. As he said this, the shadow removed itself from the ground and took the form of a dragon. However, Tenebris did not cast a shadow, and so he was disorienting to look at. He snorted, and pale smoke drifted from his nostrils. The strange dragon spoke an ancient language, but Tenebris understood it. He didn't know him, though, and he didn't like Albus talking to him. In an instant, with movements too fast for the eye to follow, Tenebris stood before the dragon, Albus pushed behind him protectively.

Harroc surprised once again, took a step back, and his body began to flow more brightly, signaling that his body was now hotter to the touch. The air around him warped even farther, and the flames that encased the last third or his tail grew large and white. "Spical vhira sjach walker! wux re thric throdenilt bvecko loupon ve!" he sniped in his own defense. "Sjek si wanted ekess ouith jacion, tir wux siofme jaci ornla still qe persvek ir inloil harkt jaka?" He said, his body going back to it's natural state, as his surprise dissipated into a more calm demeanor. This dragon knew his language, so communication wouldn't result in violence if he could help it.

Tenebris just hissed, "Albus, go back to the cave." Albus frowned, "Big brother!" He started to protest. Tenebris turned to face him, "You have deliberately disobeyed my orders. I told you not to talk to strange dragons, and you did it anyway, knowing that I would not approve. Back to the cave you go, you're done for the day." He said sternly. Albus frowned and lowered his head, turning around and walking away. "Bye, Harroc..." He said quietly, over his shoulder as he left. Tenebris waited until the little white dragon was out of sight, before turning back to the strange dragon. "coi tiric ti selgtarn sjek wux tira ti jatil jacion levnim, si told Albus ti ekess ukris ekess bvecko darastrixi, vur jaci tepohaic ignored ve shafaer purpose. si tira ti tuor ekess origato jacion gethrisj ekik naeck, shar si promised jacion batobot si ornla. si said ekess jacion batobot sjek jaci ran sari vi bvecko darastrix ekess confn harkt spical okarthel, shar jaci tira ti tir nomeno, jaci xoal'si ekess ukris ekess wux. jaci ui vi bensvelk sepa, vur si ornla qe surprised sjek tikilvi ornla tuor ekess ouith jacion, shar still, jaci tepohaic ekess yor batobot si mi xoalir ekess troth jacion." Although Tenebris looked very furious, he also seemed to be stricken, as though horribly worried. His tone was harsh, but there was a shaky note to it, as though he were relieved that he had made Albus leave.

Suddenly many treetops above the meeting were crashed and broken as a dragonic body flung into them, trying to pick itself up. A gray dragon landed a distance behind Harroc, grunting and moaning as it did so. It had purple eyes and blackish shadows under them. A bit of purple blood spouted from a few cuts, wounds, and burns in his skin. He wheezed as he laid on the ground, injured and beaten. About seven large black shapes passed over the treetops, blasting flashes of purple light through the skies. One of them lowered and quickly landed a distance away, behind the gray dragon behind the bushes in a large creek.

Cain, this gray dragon, looked at the others, trying to get up and regain strength. "Run! The Decicrates are here! GET OUT OF HERE!!"

The bushes blasted with purple fire behind him as something was beginning to emerge from them, one black claw at a time.

Tenebris looked at the dragon, and all of a sudden, all worry on his face vanished, replaced by something cold and calculating. He looked at Harroc, "bensvelk apzen" he said, before he suddenly sank into the ground, becoming a shadow. The shadow then quickly darted away out of sight, although it was heading in the same direction Albus had been going. Albus would have already arrived in the abyss, which was so deep that even the best dragon's night vision could not see through the darkness. Tenebris had taught his brother to navigate in the tunnels, but nobody else could get in that easily, as the opening was difficult to escape, unless you were very small. Upon reaching the crevice, the shadow drifted into it, and there was no evidence that Tenebris had ever been there.

Tenebris was not a noble dragon. While he may have seemed good when he was speaking to his little brother, his kindness and care did not expand to include anyone else. He could care less what happened to the strange dragon, so long as he and Albus were left out of it. A lack of compassion kept the thief from caring about anyone other than himself and his adoptive brother.

Harroc paid no mind to the other dragon, which seemed no better than a pig. He didn't deserve to be disrespected because of another's action. He instead glowed brightly, signifying that his body was now hotter than normal magma. The raised his obsidian claws and got ready to defend himself from any sort of attacker. He felt molten rock boil up in his neck, ready to unleash literal hell on the attacker. "Su'um ahrk morah." he snarled. It was a phrase used by his species to any going to the surface. The words weren't that of his language, and belonged to one even older than his. The phrase meant 'What will you burn.' and he was ready to defend himself from any willing to strike a living piece of magma.

Cain looked at Harroc. "Do you even know what a Decicrate is? You can't beat him!" he shouted as suddenly a black dragon emerged from the bushes... however something was wrong with the form of the dragon... It was undead, flesh and scales were ripped and shredded all over the body and cased with what remained of its body and black cloths used to bind fractures.

"Cain, the next time you deny a request to join us, we'll kill you!" it growled. Suddenly another black shape went over the trees, it shot white lights throughout the skies and the black dragon cowered in fear. The undead thing shot up into the skies and was gone.

Cain regained strength and stood up. "Who are you?" he asked Harroc.

All Harroc understood was the word 'you' in the sentence.

"Sia ominak ui Harroc." He said, not really wanting to go through the whole process over again. If this dragon didn't speak his language, then he would figure out that it would be hard to communicate. "Tir wux ti renthisj hesi ooble?" he questioned, stalking over to the other dragon and circling him. He didn't fear anyone, or thing, as one does not simply touch magma and not loose their finger, or claw, or whatever they used to touch the magma. Living or dead flesh would burn against his skin. The only thing he didn't like was water, and it required great amounts to put out his flame.

Cain rolled his eyes. Great. "Do you speak my tongue or not?" he asked, losing patience. "The Decicrates are after Tharan the Hallow and anyone in league with him. They're heading for the temples and we have to get everyone out of here."

Cain was not intimidated by Harroc. The only thing he feared right now were the Decicrates, the ones that had gone extinct and were suddenly resurrected temporarily.

Soaring high above the clouds of the Ophidian Vale, higher than any other dragon flew that day, was a sal wyvern by the name of Sal. He soared above the heavy cloud cover of the Southern Islands, taking in the sun-warmed tropical breeze before it went careening through the clouds and down onto the sun-kissed white sands of the archipelago. In his beak was a brown parcel; a letter heading for the tropical islands and their matriarch, Notus. He was very good friends with Notus and her people, so he took the request to collect the lost mail with glee. A band of pirates had raided a post office up in the North, and had stolen the letters. Sal had destroyed the dragons with prejudice, and took the mail to its rightful owners. Sal fluttered down to the top of the clouds and skimmed the top of the foggy layer with the tip of his left wing. He flew around a rock-like formation shaped kind of like a palm tree, and then rose up again to about 10,000 feet. He was trying to find a gap in the clouds for him to fly through, as the water in the clouds would get the letter wet, and nobody liked a wet letter.

Notus was a simply dragon. She spent most of her days sleeping in her pond in the middle of Origin Island, the island in the very center of the Southern Archipelago. Geothermal movement in the Earth's crust made the pool nice and warm, like a hot spring, and the shade from the nearby palm trees kept the sun off of her sensitive skin when she felt that the sun was burning her skin. This was one of those days, as, despite some cloud cover, the sun was shining rather brightly, irritating Notus' blind eyes. She blinked blindly one time, and looked around, admiring her paradise. No, Notus was blind, but she could see the outline of the trees and creatures using vibrations She could see the palm trees around her, and the ripples in the water as the catfish and spirit koi played tag. She could sense the waving of the wind in the palm fronds, and the skittering of a squirrel monkey through the trees. She sighed, and leaned back into her vine hammock which stretched between to large trees and skimmed the water's edge. This was the life.

When Tenebris arrived at the hoard, he found Albus sulking in a corner. "Albus, what did I tell you when I let you go out this morning?" Tenebris prompted. Albus muttered something, but it was barely audible, "Speak up." Tenebris growled. "You told me not to talk to strangers." Albus said. "Exactly, and did you listen?" He was not making this easy for his little brother, but he had to learn. "No." Albus answered. "But Tenebris, I know he was nice! He wasn't dangerous!" The little dragon turned around to confront his big brother. "It doesn't matter, you disobeyed me. Albus, you know I care about you, I can't afford to lose you! You were lucky that I even caught you, if I hadn't sent you back home, you would have been caught by some very bad dragons."

Albus' head shot up, "You left Harroc out there...?!" He cried, oddly strangled. "This Harroc is not important, but you are, however." Tenebris said, with his usual dismissive attitude toward others. "Tenebris! You shouldn't have left him! He could be in trouble!" The little dragon got to his feet. "I'm going to help him." Albus said. "Albus, no, you are staying here where it's safe!" Tenebris said sternly. Albus looked at him, and there was a tense silence. Suddenly, the white dragon burst into tears, "Tenebris! Why can't you be nice to anyone! You don't even smile anymore!" He cried. His big brother was stunned, "...Fine, then, I'll help, but you are staying here." He said. "No, I'm coming, too." Albus said. Tenebris sighed with frustration, "You never make things easy! Let's go, then, and for everyone's sake I hope you're right about this dragon!" With this, the two brothers started out of the cave.

In the crown of a tree, sat little Dillusia, gazing off into the distance at nothing in particular. She was once again, caught in a daydream. She blinked every now and then, but slowly became more and more relaxed to the point where her eyes closed completely, and she rested her head on a branch.

The branch snapped, and the daydream cloud ripped into shreds. The pieces barely registered as material against Dillusia's face. She was still trying to figure out what had happened when she landed on her back on the ground. The impact drove the breath from her, and she lay in the soft grass trying to recover. A leaf from the canopy fluttered down and landed on her head. She blinked, and blew it away. Slowly she righted herself and stood up.

Dillusia had never fallen out of a tree before...Then again, she hadn't ever climbed a tree before either. Oh well. She was unhurt and could still walk, so how bad could it be, trying it again? She laughed happily to herself, fully enjoying the mild thrills in the physical world.

She spread her gauzy wings and lifted effortlessly into the air, alighting on a branch not unlike the one she'd been dozing on moments before. Then she noticed a taller tree in the distance. What thrills could that bring her?

Dillusia lifted again, heading for the bigger tree. Perhaps something would show up and be entertaining...She had seen some other dragons carrying things over the sea earlier, but they hadn't looked like they wanted to talk...

Cain rolled his eyes again. "Nevermind, I have to get out of here" he said and lifted off into the dark night sky, slowly flying away. However not long passed before his wounds got the better of him and he had to fall down from the sky and hit the grassy ground, just a distance away from the trees Dillusia was by. He fell over on his back and simply sat with his eyes half closed, trying to regain strength.

Dillusia alighted in the tree, surveying the view. She marveled at the myriad of colors that the night sky presented to her. The stars with their glowing auras, against the unforgiving blackness of empty space...The faintly tinged clouds to the west, where the sun had set. It was beautiful, and had often induced sleep in Dillusia, as daydreams and wondering turned to full-blown snoring.

It was a lax life.

Curled around the branch like a snake, Dillusia would have fallen asleep once again if it hadn't been for the sudden obstruction of the sky off to her left. Something had just flown over and landed nearby.
Another dragon perhaps.

The nighttime was nearly fluid to Dillusia, as there were many creatures dreaming and she could see each "cloud" as she flew. She tuned them out, trying to focus on what she'd seen for once.

It was difficult.

Eventually she made it down toward the unidentified dragon with only minimal distractions. There was the smell of blood in the air, which Dillusia didn't like. It promoted bad thoughts. She would have hid, but her glowing wings were glaringly obvious in the darkness, and she figured anyone around would have already spotted her.

So she sat in a tree above the injured dragon, not saying a word and wondering what would happen next. Her perspective was rather like someone who'd just come to an exciting chapter in a good novel.

Cain moaned as her looked up, seeing what appeared to be a dragon. He was confused by the look of this dragon... a Dream Dragon, pretty rare where he came from. It was astonishing to see one. His vision was blurry from the fall and was beginning to return to normal, but was still quite fuzzy. He noticed it was female and hoped that is wasn't a Desecrate, he hated those things and they were like nothing he'd ever seen before.

"H-Hello?" Cain asked, trying to see if the dragoness was friendly. He didn't want to fight in this state, and he didn't know if he really could.

Harroc watched the dragon go, as he had no urge to speak in that... Guttural language the surface world had adopted. "Hofiba..." he muttered to himself, before turning to the trees that the undead thing came. He was like a torch in the night, an endless supply of light kept his way straight and his vision clear. He coughed up the molten rock that had gathered in his throat, which had been prepared for the undead one. Although the time to strike never came. The liquid substance poured from his maw and sizzled on the grass surface. It's superheated form remained orange and would do so for a few minutes before ultimately cooling into Granite.

The trees looked like they would burn, making them an excellent food source for fire. He stalked over, and bit down on a tree branch, chopping the wood clean off with his scissor-like obsidian jaws. The wood slid down his throat and vaporized in the white hot flames inside his body.

"Svabol tir wer svern worlders relgr nomeno... lofftarientik minben?" He said to himself, and then moved to another branch, snapping his jaws over the wood and ripping the branch from the tree.

"Hello." Dillusia said in her dreamy way. "What are you doing?"

Putting two and two together was a little difficult for her. Just because the air was filled with the scent of blood didn't mean that she knew this dragon was injured. It looked to her like he was trying to take a nap. If so, maybe she could help in that department.

"I'm sorry to intrude if you live here. I just c-came f-from the temples. They're being attacked a-and I was attacked and my wings are injured and burnt..." he said trying to stand up, but he couldn't. He simply fell back down on his back and laid down. He didn't like this. Exposing your stomach to a stranger was dangerous as it's a perfect part to slash open or tear. Only creatures who trust each other completely would do such a thing.