Chapter 48-Distraught
The shrill shrieks of a thousand dragons abruptly woke Nethial from the sleep she had enjoyed after making her desires known to Tanui throughout the night. Finding that he had at least draped what remained of his robe over her body to give her some warmth, she opened her eyes and blinked several times, slowly letting the world around her come into focus. The grey walls held numerous new scratches in them, the shape of each mark identical to how her new feet were shaped. Turning her head, she finally realized everything as her gaze fell on the sleeping form of Tanui. They had made love . . . She had opened herself up to someone for the first time in decades.
Noticing the smooth curves of his muscled body, she briefly smiled, the events of the night coming back to her as she lifted a hand and traced the outline of his arm. Three deep gashes stretching from his shoulder down to almost his elbow took away much of the beauty of his otherwise pristine flesh, the injury a stark reminder of the power of the dragon race. Abandoning the motion, Nethial drew back and switched her focus to something that was troubling her more than ever since having been awoken by the screams of scale-fliers.
Having touched the mind of her former bonded-partner for the first time in centuries, she had discovered that still a small connection remained between them, quite possibly forged from their mental link long since passed. Trusting in herself and in the recovery job Cambre had done to her, Nethial reached out through that lingering mind-bridge between her and Attor, hoping the earlier dragons' lament had not been for him as she feared it might have been.
Nothing. Silence. Peaceful stillness.
Reeling from the discovery, she frantically turned and shook Tanui, begging him to awaken. This couldn't have happened, not to her beloved former-mind partner! For him to loose his life before she died was unthinkable, given how her initial death had caused him to turn his back on dragon-kind and make the island his new home. A low growl rose automatically from her throat as she realized Tanui was still asleep, ignoring the panic that consumed her.
'Tanui,' she hissed, giving him a harsh shove as she struggled to get off her back, 'wake up, please.'
Her new metal legs wouldn't quite bend the way her flesh-and-bone ones had, leading to her inability to get off the ground from her current position. Snarling harshly under her breath, she trashed around, trying anything to move her reconstructed lower half. Tanui shifted slightly, inching toward her as Nethial stopped her struggling and realized she would be getting nowhere until he woke.
Formulating a plan quickly, Nethial turned her head and got as close to his ear as she could, hoping this last act would work. A low hiss rippled up her throat and she directed its entire fury towards him, raising and lowering the pitch to more closely reflect the growl of a dragon. The idea worked, awakening Tanui who quickly glanced around for danger before his eyes fell on her.
"Was that necessary?" He growled as Nethial shrunk back, a slight grin masking her motives for arousing him,
'I cannot get up off the ground from my current position,' she snarled back in reply, her eyes darkening as she dreaded having to face either Cambre or Ladetis with Attor's death so recent.
"Fine," Tanui spat as he stood then pulled her to her feet, cringing a moment later as Nethial heard the off-distance sound of wingbeats.
Turning around, knowing what would be discussed by the two, she handed him back the torn remains of his robe and proceeded to walk out, only to be stopped by Tanui. He calmly followed after her and, after tossing on the white clothing, placed a hand on her shoulder, bringing her to a stop as she fought to not let herself dwell on the death of her former mind-partner. She turned, wrenching herself away from him as she caught a brief glimpse of the man she had once loved in his pained expression.
A low coon from outside the building confirmed her thoughts that Ladetis had come to them as Tanui dropped his grip on her and closed his eyes. Closing her own eyes, Nethial mentally reached out to the wounded dragon, catching pieces of his conversation and lament with his master.
. . . He's dead . . . gone . . . I could do nothing, Another dragon, one he had killed years back, possessed him and came after me, leading to my defense and his . . .
I understand . . . Still, to lose him after all this time is hard to believe.
Opening her eyes back up, Nethial withdrew from the dragon's mind and shook her head, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. Her beloved mind-partner was dead and killed by the very scale-flier she had helped two weeks ago! However much she regretted to admit it, Tanui did have a point with saying that Attor had lived long after her own death, far surpassing the normal expected life-span for a grief-stricken dragon.
The old-one is dead, is he not?
The deep rumble of a voice startled Nethial until she turned and saw that Cambre had approached from somewhere deep in the ruins. He, like Ladetis, was obviously stricken with grief over Attor's death given the emotional tone of voice and the wavering gait as he walked. Reaching out to him, she placed a hand on his snout, marveling at the chilled touch she received as if his body radiated pure ice.
'Unfortunately, yes. The death-moans of a thousand scale-fliers woke me to this terrible tragedy,' Nethial whispered, struggling to keep her voice even and not let her emotions overpower her. She had survived isolation for over ten thousands years plus an additional six years spend in the underground tunnels of Arxa's cave so there was no shadow of a doubt that she could handle the death of a dragon she had not seen for eons.
If that is the case then we can only mourn his death as a collective group . . .
'A group? There are others?'
Indeed, lost one. There are four of us in all, Protectors of Tel-var. Satyr, mistress of poison, Ferli, master of earth, Valur, master of electricity, and myself, master of ice.
Nethial nodded, correct at having guessed Cambre's element just from contact with him. She briefly wondered how he had learned to master ice but she figured she didn't need to know. Withdrawing her hand from his snout, she saw from the corner of her eye that Tanui had drawn his sword and pointed it straight at the floor.
I assume you wish to meet the others? Cambre growled, nudging Nethial as her gaze returned to him and she glanced towards the outside of the building where Ladetis had remained since landing.
'That would be preferable,' she replied, sensing that Tanui had again tried to soothe his dragon from the pain it must have felt.
"You mentioned poison, correct?" Tanui suddenly questioned as he sheathed his weapon, leaving Nethial to wonder how deep his connection with Ladetis was with the aftermath of Attor's death upon all of them.
Cambre snorted, twitching the end of his tail. Indeed. Perhaps Satyr can meet with Ladetis to calm his . . . violent tendencies?
A low snarl from outside gave Ladetis's thoughts on the idea and Nethial chuckled softly under her breath. Letting Cambre lead the way, she and Tanui followed until they had left the ruined maze of a building that had been the location of her recovery. Once out in the open, Nethial glanced at Ladetis to see how he was holding up as Tanui went over to him and laid a hand on his chest. The dragon's body was covered with scratches, some wounds from the fight in the underground of Arxa's cavern having reopened. The thing that caught her attention the most was his eyes, once so bright and full of life but now dim and clouded. He reflected her own state in someways, she realized as Cambre lifted his snout to the sky and let loose a frozen stream of ice into the air.
Taking a step back in surprise, her gaze having been captured by the blue-black scale-flier at the display of his element, Nethial heard a moment later the echoing roars of three dragons, each from a different part of the island. Cambre seemed pleased, humming as he lowered his snout and met her curious gaze. Nethial blinked, breaking eye contact as she forced herself to look away, still fearful of the dragon after his alteration of her mind.
They come, the dark blue-black dragon growled as Nethial hissed, catching the briefest scent of burning leaves on the wind before she relaxed and returned her attention to Cambre.
Within moments, the three dragons Cambre had called for landed gracefully in the wide open field that surrounded the building Nethial had been restored in. Although they arrived within minutes of each other, there were vast color differences between the scaled beasts, leaving little question as to the chosen elements of each. The first one to arrive from the distant mountains of the southern tip of the island was a large male brown dragon with silver eyes and four horns jetting out from the back of his skull. Thick scales lined his back while lighter brown scales covered his underside, his wings the same shade of color as his underbelly. The dragon's tail gradually grew smaller until it ended at a large boulder, which further gave away the identity of its element.
The remaining two dragons arrived within seconds of each other after the brown scale flier had landed, their colorations also revealing their elements. The first of the dragons to land was a male purple dragon with red irises, nearly identical in color to those of Tanui's own. This scaled beast also had a lighter shade of its base color for its underside and wings, its tail sharply jagged while narrowing to a pointed tip. The second of the two dragons was the only female Nethial had seen while on the island. Her scales were burnt orange and her irises were the color of seaweed. The tip of her tail ended in a large barb, a clear sign of her element.
Meet Ferli, master of the powerful earth, Valur, master of the stunning lightning, and Satyr, the she-dragon who commands the destructive power of acid, Cambre hummed pleasantly as Nethial found her gaze drawn to Ferli the most. She felt a sense of greater things to come radiate from the brown scale flier, a feeling that left her uneasy.
A moment later, Nethial felt Tanui's palm resting against her back and she turned to face him, wanting to know why he would leave Ladetis's side to come to her. His gaze drifted from her initially but then smiled and motioned with a sweep of the arm to go back into the building they had ventured from to get away from the dragons. Thinking for a moment over her options, Nethial sighed and followed after him, casting a weary glance over her shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed.
Slipping inside the ruined building, Tanui slowly came to a stop and placed his hand on the wall next to him as Nethial entered a moment later, still unsure about if she should have followed him or not. "We weren't followed?" He asked softly after a moment, lifting his hand from the wall and turning to face her.
'No. I made sure no one was behind us,' Nethial responded, crossing her arms over her chest out of habit from the days of her madness.
A tensed sigh escaped Tanui and his gaze, having been rigid while questioning her, relaxed. "Good, good. It just didn't feel right standing there as if I was some new creature they had never seen before . . ."
'I understand,' she whispered softly, resisting the urge to run a hand through his black hair. Curious emotions had risen within her since her recovery, emotions she was still trying to sort through and make sense of with how they pertained to Tanui and the growing relationship between herself and the spawn-clone.
He sighed again, glancing past her and out the room's entrance just to make sure they were alone. Nethial studied him, noticing the deep lines that seemed to etch into his face as he scowled and looked away, collecting his hands together in front of him. Under different circumstances, she might have mistaken him for Tamli even though her former love had rarely shown his emotions in front of her. She chuckled under her breath at the thought before realizing that one of the only times Tamli had shown his emotions had been before his 'death' caused by Amia so that Finca would be safe.
"When we first landed here, before I knew anything of Attor or Cambre, I fully believed you would be healed and we could leave to start a life together . . . Only I was far too lost in my own dreams of idealization to realize the truth!" Tanui closed his eyes, gritting his teeth together as his body shook slightly. "You were meant to come here, Nethial, but I have no such place to call home. An outcast, a deserter of my kind . . . all because of my dragon. It makes no sense!"
He screamed, punching the wall right next to her as Nethial slowly backed away, startled at the sudden change of emotions from Tanui. She had never seen him this angry, this furious before. Tamli, in the time she had known him, had never been prone to violent outbursts like what she was currently witnessing. Maybe the cloning process had altered the minds of the copied hybrids, giving them a more violent nature while stripping them of a skill her former love had wielded? There had been no sign of Tanui being an aura sensitive, unlike the original hybrid he had been cloned from as Tamli was quite familiar with the gift and rather skilled with using its vast properties.
Tanui's gaze flickered to her as Nethial continued to slowly back away from him, a coldness seeping into his eyes that hinted at the beginning of mental detachment. "You aren't trying to leave, are you?" He questioned icily, taking a step towards her as Nethial struggled to control the panic that was starting to rise within her.
Nethial swallowed, trying to think of a way to answer him when she backed up against a wall. She had put herself in a corner now with him closing in fast and little way of escape for her. Deciding to be brave, she took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye, hoping to find some way to bring him back to his senses.
'This isn't you, Tanui. Snap out of it, please!' He took another step towards her, his eyes darkening. 'Think of what Ladetis would say!' She cried, fervently hoping speaking of the dragon, of his mind partner, would bring him back to where he was and make him end whatever he had planned for her.
A low snarl rose from his throat and he lifted a hand, a mental constriction around her throat occurring immediately. She clutched at the affected area, recalling all too well her own anger at Raoul and his near-death by her mental powers, an accident she deeply regretted. Her gaze focused on his eyes, understanding the pain she saw reflected by them as she had felt the same so long ago.
Opening her mouth for the first time in centuries, she fought back against his mental grip on her and somehow managed to scream, "Release me!"
The sound burst from her mouth so clear and pure that it momentarily stunned both of them before Tanui lowered his hand and relaxed his hold on her throat. His eyes glistened with a hardness Nethial had rarely seen during her life but she silently figured out the cause of his sudden change in temperament. It must have been an imperfection passed into him during the cloning process, she realized as he narrowed his gaze and took another step towards her, reaching out and placing a hand on her chest. His fingertips burned as they lightly grazed her skin, making Nethial's panic grow more quickly at the thought of him trying to force her into making love with him.
"A broken shell of an abandoned deserter . . ." He whispered, gazing up into her eyes as she trembled under her own fear of him. "So lost, yet no one heard your cries . . ."
Snarling under her breath, Nethial closed her eyes and jerked her head away, reaching out to Ladetis for help. She couldn't do much more with trying to get Tanui to snap out of it as she was already starting to weaken in her resolve. Tanui withdrew his fingers from her chest and harshly grabbed her chin, the initial pain making her reopen her eyes and stare at him. Not about to go down without a fight, she grabbed his wrist and tore his hand away, her other hand inching toward her sheath.
"Now, now," he chuckled, grabbing her arm before she could grasp her sword and pull it loose, "There is no need for that, not here."
"Stay away from me," Nethial snarled, wishing for Ladetis to hurry up and help her before Tanui did something he would regret.
Tanui released her arm, taking a step back as Nethial narrowed her eyes and hissed softly under her breath. She lunged forward, shoving him backwards as she turned and ran for the building's opening. Her foot barely touched the grass outside before a tighter constriction around her throat forced her to stop and clutch at her neck, a sigh from behind her revealing Tanui's position as she was lifted off the ground by mere inches through his telekinetic powers.
Seconds later, Ladetis came into view, a sphere of poison resting in his jaws as he walked towards them. Nethial flinched at seeing his element, remembering how it felt to lose half of her legs by his uncontrolled venom and the pain that still lingered from what remained of her lower limbs. The pressure around her neck tightened and she squirmed, trying to reach out to the dragonet to make him hurry before she ran out of air.
Stay where you are poison-wielder.
From the clouds above them, Cambre, Valur, and Satyr descended, their wings making little sound as they banked to circle Nethial and Tanui. Ladetis halted, reaching out to Nethial to assure her that he had not mentioned anything to the other dragons but that they had acted of their own will. Cambre took the lead position in the formation as the other two drifted back to allow him to focus solely on Nethial, Satyr breaking away to fly above Ladetis as Valur moved to circle Tanui.
Nethial briefly glanced upward to see Cambre watching over her and it warmed her heart, only for her to suddenly struggle for even a breath. She heard Tanui scream in anger behind her and a resounding snarl from Ladetis confirmed the hatchling was trying to reason with his master. Her head felt heavy as colors blurred around her and then everything seemed to fade to black . . .