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Sons of Winter chapter 13: Brianna (novel commission written for Teufel: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/dragonteufel/ )

Chapter description: Brannen introduces Aleks to his sister, a sorceress who can finally grant Nyrisa the help she needs.

Aleks belongs to Teufel: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/dragonteufel/

The other characters featured in this novel are my creation

*

When Aleks had first heard that Brannen had a sorceress for a sister, he expected a lavish domain shrouded in secrecy by a most fascinating arcane spell. The truth, however, was far less esoteric.

"Up ahead," Brannen pointed at a small, one story wooden cabin located on the top of a hill, basking in the shadow of a mountain, with rows of frostberry and starberry bushes spreading to every side, encased by a crude wooden fence that even a wolf could jump over.

"A bear can just walk through that fence to reach those berries," Aleks muttered under his breath, more to himself than to his companion.

"Said she's a sorceress, not a conjuror," Brannen snickered, taking out one of his runed pebbles to wiggle it in front of Aleks' muzzle. "They make these, as well as every item and device related to illusions. So, sorcerers are versed into dream and arcane magic, while conjurors mostly make use of spirit and nature magic, imbued with a potent dose of arcane magic depending on the case. Don't scoff," Brannen tapped Aleks on the nose to chide him for his unbecoming reaction. "Conjurors aren't your average shaman, to attempts random spells and awe a whole people when one somehow shows results even the caster doesn't fully understand. They are also restricted to Jorlindnar and are of a particular rare and noble descent."

"What sort of creature are they?" Aleks asked, resting a hand on the neck of the direwolf who padded at his side. He only knew Garrun for less than two days, but the wolf seemed far more familiar to Aleks than his companion, who took a liking to speaking in riddles.

"Mmm, they are felines. That much, even I can tell," Brannen rubbed his chin in thought, trying to pinpoint specifics. "If you want details,, they are a bit of tiger, a bit of panther, a bit of lion, a bit of jaguar. Depends on the individual, but it's their coat, ranging from dark violet to indigo, that makes them stand apart. Legend has it that they're not of this world due to their looks and magical prowess, but that's an easily dismissed superstition. People always shunned those who are different, eh?"

A shudder ran through Aleks at the mentioning of otherworldly creatures with vast and terrifying powers sharing the same world with him. Then again, he had never seen one of those big cats, anthro or feral, nor had Jorlindnar unleashed its might upon the rest of the kingdoms.

At least, not yet.

"Sissy!" Brannen shouted as they crested the hill atop which the cabin was built upon. "Got a morose blue wolf and an arcane fever-stricken hatchling for you. Exciting guests, to be sure."

"I'm plenty excited already. Go somewhere else. Already have my hands full with Karalynn and Vroskalr," the distinctly feminine voice answered him.

As soon as she mentioned those names, the two hatchlings--a smaller blue and a slightly taller brown--rushed to the window, desperately pawing at the handle. Their efforts unsuccessful, the blue hatchling blasted the window apart, suspending the motionless shards of glass and wood fragments in the air, floating upon the violet-hued mist. When their little paws hit the ground, the window rearranged itself into its previous form, causing the mist to disappear.

"Rih! Reh! Rah!" the two hatchlings squeaked as they bounded straight for Brannen. The brown one hoisted itself up its hind legs, reaching for his hands with its soft, pink pads while the smaller and more agile blue clambered up his legs and chest, forcing him to clutch her to his chest.

"This one's Karalynn," Brannen's gaze pointed at her while the hatchling enthusiastically licked at his lips and chin. "The tamer one is Vroskalr. Two orphans, same as my sister and I."

Aleks smiled wryly at how Karalynn hissed and spat and snarled at the male, too comfortable in Brannen's arms to surrender her privileged position. Even so, Brannen still managed to hold her with an arm so that he could grab one of Vroskalr's paws with his free hand, shaking it lightly in human fashion.

"What's next? Teach him how to salute like the proper soldier that he is?"

Vroskalr whirled on his feet, lifting his crooked paw to his chest and bowing his head reverently at the woman standing in the doorstep.

She rolled her eyes at that, her shoulder-long black curls as dark as the vest and pants she wore. "Great. Teach them to be you. I'm certain they will thrive as henchmen under a fat, callous bastard of a Frostlander."

"She always has a sting in her voice. Don't let that get to you. Brianna's always been--"

His words cut off as a cloud of shimmering mist engulfed him, causing the two hatchlings to fall on their fours and scamper away from the freaky occurrence.

"Arcane magic permeates everything--organic lifeforms most of all-- in different quantities, formless, mindless, eager for commands," she said as she stretched her hand in Brannen's direction, rotating it from one direction to the other, her fingers weaving unrecognizable patterns in the air. "It dictates the physical form you take. Fur or no fur. Biped or quadruped. Short or tall. If enticed, it can shift into a different form, but always smaller than the original, and never bigger."

Once her words ended, so did her spell. The violet cloud vanished, all of Brannen's clothes and possessions falling on the floor, followed by a black and white stoat that bounded for the nearest tree as soon as it landed on its feet.

The two hatchlings squeaked in unison, rushing after it, spitting thin streams of flame in its direction. Garrun, too, dashed after the stoat, though unlike the hatchlings, he was more interested in blocking their path to slow them down rather than chase the spindly creature.

"Come inside," Brianna beckoned at Aleks. "You don't want to watch Brannen getting eaten by the very hatchlings he rescued, do you? Not when you have a hatchling struck by arcane fever to contend with already."

Aleks gulped back his shock at what he just witnessed, obeying the strange woman without a word, terrified of ending up as a lesser creature as well.

"Does he...can he really..." he paused to look back, his stomach tied in a thousand knots at the prospect of losing Brannen in such a ridiculous way.

"Depends on the hatchlings. Do they understand that it is Brannen they chase? Because to them, he smells and looks like an ordinary ferret. A fascinating question, to be sure, to which we shall have an answer to shortly."

"Woman!" Brannen's voice bellowed from the canopy of a tree down at the foot of the hill. "They singed my focking tail! I almost died, you mad cunt!"

"You don't even have a tail!" Brianna shouted back. "It's all part of the spell! So you're all fine, you whimpering pup."

Her explanation did little to alleviate Aleks' nausea, yet the sound of Brannen's voice emboldened him to at least step inside the cabin, sit on the nearest stool, and place his knapsack in his lap to take out Nyrisa.

"She's so small," Brianna said on a hushed voice, gently grabbing her, resting her against an arm while her freehand wove tendrils of twirling arcane magic that seeped into Nyrisa's body. "How did she even..."

She looked at Aleks for answers, but he had none to give, so he simply sank his face into his palms, barely able to hold his tears back.

"I'll get her well," Brianna reassured him, only to crush his heart a moment after. "Actually, I can't. Not alone. Dream magic is fickle. I may be a bit of a prodigy where its inner workings are concerned, but if the little one here doesn't accept my aid, then my skill amounts to Brannen's non-existent yet supposedly singed tail."

"She means she's useless," Brannen said as he bustled into the cabin, bare chested and with the rest of his belongings bundled under the crook of his arm, trailed by two whimpering hatchlings with bowed heads and sagged wings. "Just take her to Ylkrendil, borrow his form, this and that. You've cured worse Dream Magic afflictions."

"And you're ordering around the one who can turn you into something even lesser than the mink you already are."

Brannen discarded his belongings, opening his arms in invitation. "Go ahead Bri. Pray that you don't make me an insect, that I could crawl into the first opening of yours that I manage to find."

She shuddered visibly at the threat, sighing audibly. "Games aside, I'm glad that you're back."

He went to the table to grab the bit of cheese left in a plate and munch on it rigorously. "Mmmm, me too. Pissed myself as a ferret. Delightful new experience. At least make me a bird next time, so that I can shit on my pursuers."

The two-hatchling whined louder, their soft sounds convincing Brannen to sit himself on the floor and share an arm with each of them as he dragged them to his chest. "There will be more opportunities to eat me, trust me."

"Kreeeeh!" Both of the hatchlings grimaced, appalled by the notion, much to Brannen's amusement.

"But I can't taste that bad! Am I not the typical prey you hunt?"

Aleks watched Brannen taunting the hatchlings while the little dragons did their utmost to apologize for their instinctive behavior with a heavy heart. He wished to rejoice at the sight of other young dragons; craved for it, even.

Instead, all he felt was drowning spite and envy at witnessing two lively hatchlings playing with the human whose people butchered their kind, while Nyrisa was...she was...

He lifted his gaze, looking for Brianna, noting her conspicuous absence.

"She's not that bad," Brannen mentioned as he rubbed each hatchling's neck with a forefinger. "I overstepped, but I can't help myself. She's always so frustrated with her condition, when it's me who does the truly abhorrent work."

"Is that right?" the iridescent silhouette that stepped out of the bookcase said, stretching a hand forward.

Aleks' breath stuck in his throat, his heart skipping a beat. Not again! Not when Brannen truly had no way to evade the hatchlings!

But instead, she simply began to count on her fingers. "I'm the one hiding dragons from under the noses of everyone. I'm the one rushing purple paw pads in my arms to a crippled and vindictive dragon who lingers around for reasons I cannot fathom. I'm the one who--"

"Gods, woman. You can't give us a moment of peace and privacy, can you? Why are you still upset over the Ylkrendil matter? He's alive and mostly whole thanks to us," Brannen said to the silhouette resembling Brianna to the crispest of details, energy leaving his voice, as if he had forwarded this argument one too many times. "True, he's not who he used to be, but at least he can still walk and hunt and mate, which is far better than the alternative, had we left him to his fate."

"Hmpf," Brianna scoffed dismissively at Brannen, wrapping her arms around her slender torso. "Now that you are here, perhaps you can charm him to see life in equally pretty colors. That is, if I don't have to end him for lashing out at purple paw pads. He does seem to believe that death is preferable to what we offer."

"Her name is Nyrisa," Aleks cut in, surprising the two. "And please...please convince him to help her. She is....she is so small..." he ended up repeating Brianna's words, his mind melting into a puddle of stinging sorrow.

Right before Brianna's likeness vanished, Aleks noticed her softening features, as well as her confident, determined gaze.

"You don't have to beg." Brannen kissed each of the hatchlings on their forehead before he pushed himself up, eying the shelves lined with all manner of dried foods. "She's just exaggerating. Always had a flair for the dramatic."

The little dragons noticed where his eyes went, and they immediately became more vocal for attention, fluttering their wings and hooking their claws on his pants.

"Hey, you two, stories happen in my room, and after I eat, like always. If you want to bother somebody, bother Aleks. He could use your cheer."

Kalarynn's frills tucked inward at the proposition, while Vroskalr's ears swerved the opposite way, as if he didn't even want to hear it. They only spared Aleks a fleeting glance before they rushed into Brannen's room, preferring their company over that of the blue wolf.

"Not everybody's kind to them, and not every anthro is somehow better than a human. The village from which we plucked them..." Brannen trailed off at that, idly placing food on the table. "Asinine as it may sound, that might have been the only case where Lysander rescued them. At least he just wants to sell them, while their previous handlers crippled them both through perverse contests of strength before starving them in the same pen with the beaten hounds."

"They can't belong to any of the clans down in the valley, or around it," Aleks vehemently rejected that notion. "That is not our way, or that of our enemies."

"Certainly isn't," Brannen agreed, but his lips remained thin, and his jaws tense. "War pushes people to the brink. It happened in the east, and now it happens in the north. Pray that victory isn't more important to your clans than their customs and beliefs, for when a people forsakes their very identity in order to gain the upper edge...that's when they are truly and utterly lost."

Brannen dragged a chair from under the table for each of them, pushing Aleks' plate in his direction. "Bri won't let you anywhere near Ylkrendil until she's certain that she has everything under control, so all that's left for us to do is to eat, sleep, and dream of better days. That is, unless Lysander's scouts find us. Then we will have such short sleep, that we won't even dream."

END OF CHAPTER 13

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