Well, I'm back to writing. I've been away longer than I wanted to, but I haven't been wanting to write for a while yet. Oh well, better late than never. With any luck, this will be finished off in a few chapters, although fun it still has been so far. So, without further delay, let's get on with the story.
The citadel was in a state of hasty preparation. For the past number of days, reports had been coming in from the borders of many different things; shadowed figures seen in the forests; smoke rising from places far off, only to be found later with no trace of any sort of fire- every report was unique in its own way. The Mahjarrat, Zaros' most faithful warriors, were summoned to the citadel; the small group, nine in total, being those that would investigate the strange reports. Every dragon had black scales and pupil-less eyes. One who did not know the dragons would mistake them for just one dragon, the viewer seeing double, or eightfold, to be more precise.
Lucien watched the preparations along with Cyclone, eyes darting between each dragon quickly before coming to rest on the dragoness. He turned around, heading towards the main corridors. He never really liked the 'open' corridors anyway.
"Come. We have much to do and have done by others."
Cyclone followed reluctantly, although not too sure of what still had to be done. To her, simply being there was being ready.
"How so? What is there still be done?"
The black dragon spun around, glaring ever-so-slightly at her. While he did love the dragoness, he still had a problem with keeping his temper with her, although it was the same with everyone else. If it had a heartbeat, he could be angry with it. Regardless, he still felt ashamed when he was angry with her. It wasn't her fault. He relaxed his expression, giving a slight smile as an apology.
"I'm sorry, I've been under a lot of pressure lately from trying to get this organized." He sighed, continuing on to what he was asked. "Well, we need one or two to go ahead to scout the area, and we need to get into some armour ourselves. I may be the son of their ruler, and you my mate, but I doubt that will help if we're ambushed."
He gave another small smile towards Cyclone, who gave one in return. Muttering to himself, he turned back to where he was going to begin with, the grey dragoness following closely behind.
They had been walking for around five minutes, taking a somewhat scenic route to the armoury. The two dragons were talking casually when another dragoness rounded the corner ahead of them. She had bright red scales, obviously polished for a long while. Her underbelly was a deep gold, and a small pendant hung from her neck. Her horns were not large, something common with the Zarosian dragons, but relatively short, running down both sides of her head to halfway down her neck.
Her dark red eyes seemed to brighten greatly as soon as she saw Lucien, although a small scowl appeared at the sight of Cyclone, walking at his side. When the two dragons had stopped, she walked up to Lucien, a small smile on her face. With a quick glance towards the grey dragoness, she ran a paw over one of the dragon's forelegs.
"Rheuas gh'an i'n réa... fua'd sa'an?"
A growl from the dragon indicated to Cyclone that it was something that he did not like. She was almost certain she would not like it either. She stepped closer to the red dragoness, her mouth twisted into a slight snarl.
"I do not know what you are saying but-"
The dragoness cut her off. "I'm sorry, I did not realise the council had started letting outlanders, especially outlanders that do not understand the Old Tongue, saunter around in the palace of the Lord Zaros." She paused, examining Cyclone for a reaction. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Sahna, and you are standing beside the Lord Lucien, our High Lord's son." The way she emphasised the "lord" on Lucien's name made her shiver.
"I know who this is, I am not as ignorant as you seem to think." She tried to not let her irritation show, though it was hard to in the situation.
"Oh? Well, you would know, then, that we are due to be mates. As soon as we are permitted." She added the last part with a smirk towards Lucien. The black dragon, however, simply shook his head, thoroughly confused by what was said. He glanced over towards Cyclone, who's inner fury was plastered across her face. He had to step in before she did something she, or he, he wasn't sure of whom, would regret.
"I have no idea what you are talking about, Sahna. From what I recall, I wa-"
The red dragoness cut him off; she seemed to be good at that. She stepped closer to Lucien, much to the disapproval of Cyclone.
"I'm sure you do have an idea of what I'm talking about. I'd imagine you are just trying to be polite around your friend, but you need not; she is an outlander after all. In fact, I'm sure she's just here to get some tips from someone who knows how to charm a male." She scratched at his chest, making her point emphasised.
A small whimper from Lucien was the last straw for the grey dragoness, although she was sure it was in despair, not pleasure. She launched herself at Sahna, dragging her to the floor easily with her momentum. Standing over her, forepaws pinning the dragoness' shoulders to the floor, she bared her teeth in a fierce snarl. Lucien was sure he even heard something snap from the force of the landing. Despite himself, he pulled Cyclone away, kicking and clawing as she was, from Sahna, giving her a chance to get up.
"Go, now. I cannot give you what you wish, but I won't let you be hurt from trying to make me change my mind. So, if you have any sense, you will leave and not bother with me again." A loud growl from the grey dragoness confirmed his thought.
Sahna nodded, although appearing to be trying to make a bow, before disappearing around the corner that she had come from. Lucien released his grip on his mate, giving a calming smile in answer to her glare.
"I never thought she would really try something like that in front of another dragoness, even if it was someone she thought of as an 'outlander'. She comes from one of the most powerful houses in the entire region, ours being the most powerful. To her, a noble, as she calls it, can only be another noble's mate. I don't think that way, but I can't sway her to my way of thinking."
Cyclone nodded, a small smile on her face. "It's all right. I didn't think she could do anything." She looked around, eyes examining the corner that the red dragoness had turned around a moment ago.
"Shall we get going? I'm sure the others won't want to be kept reading..."
Lucien nodded, walking along with the dragoness in tow towards the armoury. It was going to be a long day.
Hrmph... I was wanting to have something posted before this, but I didn't have any time, nor could I really be bothered, with all the art and other homework lately. Oh well, I'm back. For the moment.
22 days
225 days
The Silent Stranger,
Souls of Fury