Pokémon: 21 Deaths: 3
The hall of Lady Clair, it transpired, was, like the majority of the city, inside the mountain. It was also astonishingly warm inside. Saylee soon shed her hat, gloves, scarf and eventually coat as they descended into the tunnels. They weren't rough rock; the floors were tiled, the walls panelled and lushly decorated, and doors dotted around with signs indicating that inside were shops or family homes. The tunnel was well-lit by lines of blue dragonfire running through the walls rather than any electric lighting. It steadily grew far too hot for the heat to be simply from the torches.
"Nicole," Saylee said nervously, "is this a mountain or a volcano?"
"Don't worry, it's dormant," Nicole assured her, straightening her cape which she somehow wasn't baking under.
"Dormant just means that it's not exploding right this second," Saylee muttered. "Doesn't mean it won't."
"Are you scared?" Silver said, sniggering.
"Yes, Silver, I am afraid of all of us being burned alive by liquid rock and fire," she said, a little testily. "There is a time and a place for fear. Inside of a live volcano is one such place."
"Dormant," Lucy reminded her. "Do you want to go back?"
"Of course not," Saylee said, though she clutched at Gabriel's pokéball a little nervously. She was all too aware that magma was hot enough to burn even a Gyarados to death.
"Conquering your fear is a good first step, little girl, but there are a great many more steps to follow before you're worth my time!"
Voices carried well in the tunnels, and a woman's powerful voice emanated clearly from the hall ahead of them. The tunnel opened up quite abruptly into a tall, broad cavern. It wasn't panelled like the hallways, remaining a cavern of rough stone with channels in the floor along the sides of the hall. Saylee tried to peer into one, but she couldn't get close enough to see before blistering heat threatened to sear her skin off. She turned her attention back to the dragon trainers watching her from the huge steps at the far end of the hall.
Clair was easy to pick out. She was a striking woman, tall and imposing with bright blue hair in a high ponytail and an intense glare that Saylee could feel even though she was too far away to clearly see the woman's face. Like all of the citizens of Blackthorn, Clair was wearing a long, flowing cape. According to Nicole, the colour and finery of capes in Blackthorn were a code that displayed your rank and family. The trainers in the hall wore noticeably finer capes than the other Blackthorn residents that Saylee had passed on her way up to the mountain, and Clair wore the finest of all, sable black with silver lining. It billowed dramatically every time she moved.
All in all, Saylee couldn't help feeling that the blue jumpsuit and knee-length boots that exactly matched Clair's hair spoiled the impression somewhat. Saylee felt significantly less intimidated when the cape was flung aside to reveal that ensemble.
"Lady Clair," Saylee called out. "I ask your permission to enter the shrine and lay my Dragonair to rest."
"A member of our clan can do that for you," Clair responded, descending from the steps at the back of the hall. Saylee stepped towards her, shaking her head.
"I swore that I would do it with my own hands," Saylee said firmly.
"An outsider has no right to enter our shrine," Clair said scornfully.
"Tell me how I may earn the right, then," Saylee replied.
"I could let you in, just this once," Clair said, stepping up to a podium set in front of the steps, "if you can beat me. But I highly doubt that the likes of you would be a worthy opponent for anyone in this clan."
"If you're so tough, shut up and fight already!" Silver shouted irritably. "This is boring. And your outfit is dumb."
"Control your tongue in front of the Lady Clair!" a man in an ash-grey cloak barked sharply. Silver just stuck said tongue out at him. "She is too fine a trainer to waste her time on the likes of you!"
"Alright, then," Saylee said, stepping forwards and spreading her arms. "I see how it is. So, my lady, how many of your flunkies do I need to beat to earn the right to fight you?"
"You will regret your insolence, outsider!" the same man shouted, stepping in front of Clair and releasing a Horsea, which propped itself up on the stone floor by its springy, curled tail.
"They do call pride the deadliest vice," Saylee said, releasing Mary. "This is very relevant to you, trust me."
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Five dragon trainers later, Saylee was standing between Nider and Mary, both of whom were entirely unscathed. They had both kept up their training over the winter, and it showed, making them more than a match for the dragons they faced.
Saylee had expected more than a horde of Horsea and Dratini. Then again, none of the trainers that she'd faced had introduced themselves as Lord or Lady, so evidently they weren't the highest rankers in the clan. Clair herself was the only one left to face Saylee.
"So, you know how to play clever," Clair said, taking out a pokéball. "How cute. A battle with you might be entertaining after all. Be warned, though; you face Lady Clair now. There is no such thing as casual battle. There is no quarter. You must give your all, or be lost."
Saylee looked from Mary to Nider. "Guys… Nicole warned me about this. She's fighting to kill if she can," she said softly. "I know we came to put Diana to rest, but it's not worth…"
"You're no' backin' oot now, are ye?" Mary said. "We arnae frit o' this mouthy bint…"
"Yeah, if she's a killer, she ain't no lady," Nider said, straightening his hat. "Now Di, she was a proper lady. True class. We ain't leavin' 'til she gets a proper rest!"
"Alright, then," Saylee said. "Remember, Clair, you promised me! One-time access when I beat you!"
"If you beat me, arrogant girl," Clair replied, releasing a Gyarados. "Bite, Matia!"
"Discharge, Mary!" Saylee ordered. Mary waited until Matia's jaws closed around her to blast out her stores of electricity. She followed it up with thunderpunch for good measure, knocking the huge water-type cold.
"Poor Matia's only a Gyarados, after all," Clair sighed, returning her. "Just a lesser dragon. Let us see how you fare against a true dragon like Delline!"
Saylee had braced herself for an immensely powerful Dragonair, but the one that appeared wasn't much larger than Diana had been. They're not invincible. They can be defeated. "Nider! Ice Beam!"
Nider stepped forwards as Mary leapt back, firing a beam of ice from his horn. Delline wailed as she failed to dodge it completely. Her tail froze over, dragging her to the ground.
"Thunder Wave, Delline!" Clair called. Delline's horn crackled with electricity that flowed towards Nider, hitting him at the same moment that a second blast of ice beam took her down.
"Are you alright, Nider?" Saylee called.
"Doin' just fine," Nider responded, straightening his hat. "I can do this all day!"
"Can you?" Clair said icily. "Can you hold up against Haralda?"
"Bugger," Saylee said, seeing Clair's third Pokémon. "I think she's serious now." It was like an oversized Seadra, with none of the spiky crests that were common in the species but a long, flowing crest instead. It propped itself up on its long, curled tail and fluttered long, elegant fins. Saylee got out her pokédex to find that it was a semi-mythical water dragon called Kingdra. Saylee had never seen one before, but if Dragonite were real, why not Kingdra?
"You think I'm scared of that?" Nider sneered. "Call it!"
"Ice Beam!" Saylee ordered. Nider fired up the freezing attack again.
"Hydro Pump," Clair commanded placidly. Haralda's long, thin snout suddenly opened up surprisingly wide and fired a huge blast of water at Nider. It was powerful enough to knock aside the ice beam. Hydro Pump could hit with the force of a tidal wave.
"Nider, get out of the way!" Saylee screamed. Nider began to leap, but tripped suddenly as his leg jerked out from under him. Delline had paralyzed him.
He looked up to face the blast. "Son of a—"
Then the water knocked into him, slamming him backwards and then over the edge, dropping him into one of the channels around the edge of the room.
"NIDER!" Saylee screamed, running towards the edge with his pokéball in hand. It wouldn't work, wouldn't respond, and as she ran towards the edge she could feel searing heat pushing her back.
"Lee! Haud up, Lee!" Mary yelled, grabbing her arm to haul her back. "If you dinnae back up, I'll zap ye, see if I dinnae!"
Saylee tried to pull away and seized up sharply. By the time her head cleared, she was back at the edge of the field, ears ringing and entire body hurting. "Sorry 'boot that," Mary panted. "We got a battle tae finish, Lee. Dinnae let that be the end o' it. Please dinnae…" there was a faint glimmer in her eyes that might have been tears, instantly drying in the blazing heat. Saylee could feel tears evaporating on her own cheeks.
"If you do not select your next combatant soon, I will consider you to have yielded," Clair called. "There's no shame in doing so after such a grievous loss."
"Aye, right," Mary growled, stepping forwards.
"No, wait," Saylee said, holding up a green-and-black apricorn ball. "Let's try this. Gabriel!"
The blood-red Gyarados roared unhappily as he materialized. "Hot! Hot! HOT!" he complained, thrashing his tail.
"You're right, we need to cool it down," Saylee agreed. "Ice Fang!"
"Dragon Rage!" Clair ordered. Gabriel plowed through the blue fire as if it were nothing, biting down hard on Haralda. He reared up again, shaking Haralda in his jaws.
"Let me GO, you overgrown Magikarp!" Haralda shrieked. "CLAIR!"
"HYPER BEAM!" Clair shouted. Haralda hit Gabriel at point-blank range with the most powerful energy beam in existence. Gabriel roared and dropped Haralda, who collapsed to the ground, exhausted. Gabriel fell…
…and swept Haralda up in his icy jaws again, biting even harder. Haralda wailed in pain and went limp. Gabriel kept biting down.
"Gabriel, drop her!" Saylee ordered sharply. "Drop her NOW!"
Gabriel dropped Haralda, looking unhappy at the tone of Saylee's voice. "Bad?" he said tentatively, blood dripping from his jaws. "I did what you said…"
"Too much," Saylee said gently, watching Clair return her Kingdra. "You nearly killed her. That would be bad."
"Oh, yeah… no killing," Gabriel rumbled. "Bad. Okay."
"I'm not done!" Clair screamed, visibly incensed. She released another Dragonair, larger than Delline but still smaller than Gabriel. "Daenerys! Thunder Wave!"
"Ice Fang," Saylee commanded. Gabriel bit down tentatively as Daenerys tried to electrocute him. All she achieved was making his jaws seize up, causing him to bite down even harder. Daenerys screamed.
"Return, Gabriel," Saylee said, bringing him back into his pokéball before he unwittingly killed his captive. Daenerys collapsed to the ground in a pool of blood and steaming water.
"Dany!" Clair cried, returning the dragon to her pokéball and cradling it. "That's it. We're done."
"We're done when one of yours is hurt, but not when one of mine is dead?" Saylee asked bitterly. Clair glared sharply at her.
"No… because I have no more Pokémon," she said between gritted teeth. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go get Daenerys healed."
"Then I have your permission to enter the shrine?" Saylee said, walking towards the great steps.
"No!" Clair shouted sharply. "You don't! You're just an outsider!"
"You gave your word!" Saylee shouted, clenching her fists until the scar on her hand burned. She could feel her hair rising with static as Mary crackled angrily.
"I didn't expect to have to keep it!" Clair yelled back. "You weren't supposed to win!"
"But you did give your word, dearest…"
Saylee stopped, staring at the man who had wandered out of a side passage at the base of the steps, leaning against the wall and grinning lazily at her. Clair rounded on him. "You go back to bed," she snarled. "You're missing three ribs, some intestine and a kidney."
"Good thing I've got two, huh?" Lance said, patting his side with a wince. Some scarring was visible on the backs of his arms and on his chest where the neck of the loose red robe he was wearing opened. There was something dazed about his eyes and slurred about his voice.
"What are you doing up, anyway?" Clair demanded. "Do you intend to fight?"
"No need," Lance said airily. "She already beat me. How goes, Saylee?"
"Lance," Saylee said, not entirely surprised that he'd turned up in Blackthorn. "How's Draek?"
"Recovering." Lance stepped forwards but had to slump back against the cave wall. He didn't seem entirely steady on his left leg. "Oh, how things change. Dear, sweet Clair, a Dragonlady's word is their bond, as a Dragonlord's is, do you recall? If you gave your word, you must keep it. Although…" he cocked his head a little, raising an eyebrow as he stared at Clair. "Things have rather changed in the past fifteen years if a Lord or Lady is capable of granting access to the shrine."
"…You need to talk to the Masters first," Clair said irritably, pointing down a tunnel opposite the one that Lance had wandered out of. "Lance, you're still recovering. Go back to bed."
Lance chuckled, running a hand through his hair and revealing that he'd brushed it over a long, jagged scar along the left side of his head. "As you command, my Lady, since you seem to command an awful lot these days," he said lightly. "Just be yourself, Saylee, and I'm sure Grandfather will like you. My condolences over your Nidoking." Clair stalked towards him and put an arm around his shoulders, dragging him firmly but not roughly down the corridor.
"Man, that guy's a freak," Silver said as he and Lucy ran up to Saylee. Lucy gave Saylee a hug. She was crying.
"I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "The Dragonlords are extreme, but…"
"Can't say she didn't warn me," Saylee said roughly. "Anyway, I don't have time to cry right now. I have to lay Diana and Nider to rest first."
"That path goes straight to the Masters," Nicole said, pulling Lucy back from Saylee. "We can't come with you. I'm sorry. We're not invited."
"What if I want to go anyway?" Silver complained. Mary put a hand on his shoulder. He winced as his hair fluffed up briefly and the rims of his glasses flashed. "Oi!"
"Sorry, laddie," Mary said, "but it's best ye no'. Dinnae want tae make 'hings tough wi' these dragonlairds. We got tae put sendin' aff Di an' Nider first."
"…Nider was kinda cool," Silver said gruffly, looking down. "He wasn't weak. Even if he had a stupid hat. Tell… tell him that, okay?"
"Thank you, Silver," Saylee, briefly daring a one-armed hug before turning and walking towards the tunnel.
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*climbs out of a pit of X to post a chapter* I LOVE THIS GAME OKAY. It's so pretty. And Pokémon-Amie is brilliant, although it's really going to make Nuzlocking this game HURT.
For those who didn't see it on the Tumblr: The official theme song for Saylee is now The Light Behind Your Eyes by My Chemical Romance. It fits. Much too well.
In other news, cookies to who can guess what book series I was halfway through at the time I wrote these chapters. It might have been a little influential in developing the dragon clan. Juuuuuuusssst a tiny wee bit.
RIP Nider the Nidoking, level 12-44
