Risen: The First Mission
*As some of you may notice, I changed a few things in this chapter. For one, I got rid of Nino. Two, I got rid of some cliche dialogue and made it a bit better. Cleared a few things up as well. *
"Bored."
A single word uttered by a silver dragon as he watched aimlessly at the others walking past his cage with burn marks that looked like a bandits mask. Part of his left eye was melted together while the right eye had strands of burnt flesh. The cage he was in was barely big enough for him to even stretch out, let alone stand to press against the bars. It was as cold and clammy as a corpse, and it felt very slimy in some locations. He'd always shake his head to abolish those thoughts when he thought about it. The air was warm at least, a minor respite from the cage.
The silver dragon wore a cloak that covered most of his body, concealing it from prying eyes. It didn't stop them from staring at his eyes, though. It made him feel very uncomfortable when someone looked directly into his eyes; it made him stand out even more. Standing out wasn't such a bad thing, but it sometimes made it seem like he would never have privacy like right now.
He was in the middle of a small camp on the outskirts of where he lived. The inhabitants of the camp were very shady indeed, as they kept to themselves and only came near him to feed him. Very rarely will they strike up a conversation with him, but that was usually when he made a comment like he did now.
"You are in a cage, dragon. Being bored should be the least of your worries..." a rather hideous-looking jackal said as she turned around. "We just may eat ya if you don't shaddup. Or at least tear off that pretty mouth of yours."
"Define eat and we'll talk, m'kay?" the dragon said as he dangled his foreclaws out of the cage and made a vulgar gesture.
"You little...!" she growled as she charged the cage, the dragon pulling his claws back in time for her to collide with the metal bar, knocking her out.
The cage was elevated a bit, allowing some air or small creature to run underneath it. As to why, the dragon never really cared to find out. He'd only been there for a day and was sick of it. This was his source of amusement, as he had tricked two others into knocking themselves out. The others never moved the bodies, so they got up on their own and staggered away with the dragon making really loud noises to give them a harder time. They never could have captured him if he were paying attention.
It was amazing that no one went to get him just yet, but this was the slums. It was a 'fight for yourself or die' area, and if you got caught...well, no one cared. It was so bad here that anything could be gotten away with; even murder of a guard or even a noble. He'd seen it happen, but as he was undercover, he couldn't step in. He had to avoid some paths because there were corpses so mutilated that he just couldn't take it.
He had a very keen phobia of mutilated corpses. Regular ones were fine, as well as blood if the latter didn't touch him. But if he saw the insides or just torn apart ones, even the slightest, he would turn right around. He had no idea where it came from, yet it just kept smacking him with every turn he took in his life. His heart would give out sooner or later.
On that subject, he reached inside his cloak and pressed something metallic. A small click could be heard and he yawned. Night began to fall as a hooded figure approached his cage. "Enjoying yourself there, Serthal?" a female voice laughed a bit at his condition.
"I'm having the time of my life, Virith. Did you see the jackal below me? I made her knock herself out!" the dragon, Serthal, said.
Virith looked down and he could tell she was grinning evilly at her, "I wish I was here to see it. I would have made my day more than you being trapped. In fact, I am so amused by it that I am tempted to just keep you as a pet and make others pay to see you."
"Right...that'll go over well. I'd still have to call you Mistress though." Serthal said as he saw her grin with satisfaction. It was not a secret that Virith enjoyed being in a position of power to dominate others. She also had a fascination with hitting others with her tail if angered.
Only Serthal and a few others were not afraid of her and tried to make her angry so she would hit someone else instead while coming after them. The goal was to avoid her, because if she caught someone, they would stagger home. Serthal would always comment on her anger and she'd either hit him or walk away. Despite popular belief, it didn't hurt him all that much when she did that.
He'd always had a small group of females surrounding him, and they'd always rush to protect their 'darling', and he'd always try to slip away whenever he could. Virith knew this, and they had some sort of unspoken agreement that if he was getting annoyed, he'd pretend to make Virith angry and scare them away. It was the only time he could spend some time with her, as she did play a crucial role in saving his life, thus making her more valuable than the others.
"Are you going to stop staring at me or will I have to hit you?" Virith's voice cut through his mind as he looked down to see her tail pointed at his neck. The trident shape still looked intimidating, if a bit pristine for her. He'd expect it to already be covered in blood or something.
"You know I can't help it," He responded, noticing a gem that shone in the sunlight. Glancing down at the shape in the cage, he put two and two together. Unlike in other areas, gems were used as keys instead some metal stick with some notches in it with a handle. He never understood those ones, preferring gems due to their simplistic ways.
Before he could think further, Virith's tail hit him in the head. "I said stop staring at me." She said, her eyes narrowed.
Glaring, he defended himself, "I was looking at the shiny." He said as Virith instantly turned around and saw the gem. "Go get the shiny; it'll free me." Virith was already gone, so he had no idea if she heard him or not.
He wondered how he even got into this situation, remembering how it first started. It was just a simple thing to steal, and yet it turned into all of this...
--
One year ago
Just a little closer...
Serthal was hiding behind a small, white pillar. Despite the pillar being white, it was hard to see him as the room was entirely dark except for some moonlight pouring in from this hidden temple-like room. He could see his prize from where he was. It was a small, gold colored talisman with some sort of rune on it. He had no idea what the rune was supposed to mean, nor did he care. If it sold for a lot, then he was going to take it.
The problem, however, was getting to it.
It was in the moonlight, but generally when something as valuable as that was in plain view, it meant it had a trap of some sort. Serthal had a bad experience with that last week, and the very memory of it made his tail throb.
The pillar was damp from the moisture of the night, along with everything in the area. He was near some noble's house who had struck him earlier because he looked at her weirdly. Now, Serthal was determined to make her miserable for that. So he followed her into a forest and watched her place the necklace there. She muttered something for about a minute then left, leaving it defenseless. She probably thought that it was hidden...
Well, isn't she going to be upset? He thought to himself with a smirk. He dug his claws into the stone pillar and began to climb it until he was on the ceiling of the cave.
Serthal had five years of practice with walking on the ceiling, but he still felt like he was going to fall at any second. So long as he kept moving though, he should be fine. Just in case, he spread his wings and used the hooks on them to help stabilize him. He hated using his wings for thieving, as it would make him more visible to others. He'd use them for gliding at times, but never to make anything easy. Not only would he probably be seen, he wanted to get the most out of it. After all, it was very rare for anyone to like an out of shape dragon.
Now, walking on the ceiling, he carefully approached the talisman. For some reason, the ceiling was low enough for him to grab it with his tail. This was almost too easy...which made him more aware.
As he approached it, nothing came out to attack him. However, he waited a minute just in case. When nothing happened, he shrugged and dug his claws as much as he could into the stone. Then, he lowered his tail.
When he tried to take it the first time, he missed, but he got it the second time and pulled it back closer to him. The talasmin shone even in the dark, so it had to be worth quite a bit. He went to put it in his cloak...
...and a bolt of lightning narrowly missed his head. The sheer suddenness of it made him loose his grip and he fell off the ceiling, but managed to spread his wings and land on the ground. Who attacked him? Was it a defense system that he missed?
He didn't have time to dwell on it anymore, as something rammed into his side and sent him skidding across the stone floor, which scraped at his scales. As he got up, he felt a rapid pace of claws heading directly at him. So he shot a low-powered fireball at where the claws were to see who it was, as the fire from it would hopefully illuminate what it was. When it did illuminate what was attacking him, his blood ran cold.
Well, it was a good seventeen years... he thought sarcastically to himself as another bolt of electricity shot at his legs, making him jump to the side. However, the one attacking him appeared to have put on a burst of speed and tackled him to the ground. The tackle itself didn't hurt, but the stone did.
"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't electrocute you..." the thing that attacked him hissed in a deadly voice that only belonged to one dracidon.
"Oh no, my Mistress caught me..." Serthal responded sarcastically. Virith narrowed her jade eyes in a death glare and growled.
Virith looked a lot different than she did seven years ago. She had become very sleek in appearance, with hints of muscle in her well toned body. Electric dragons were not supposed to be muscle-bound idiots though, unlike the earth dragons. From this view, he was able to get a closer look at her beautiful body.
Her wings had turned a light green color from the white not ten years ago. The scales had become a bit lighter and were reflective, something that all female dragons had. Virith, still being attracted to shiny objects, sometimes got distracted by them. It also attracted Serthal, but what dragoness was he not attracted to? Also, she had markings made of pure silver on her muzzle.
Virith's snake-like tail rose to aim the spikes at him. Luckily, he hadn't been hit with the electric part yet...and he realized that she was on top of him in what a pervert like him could count as 'suggestive'.
"I never knew you felt this way..." Serthal smirked, referring to the way that Virith was on him.
Virith knew him too well not to know what he meant by that. She growled and snapped at his face. "Don't play games with me!" She said in a tone that would make everyone around her run away.
"I'm not trying to. You're on me." He laughed, but was cut off from being hit in the face with her tail. She still hasn't gotten over the habit of hitting him with her tail while yelling at him.
"Give it." She growled, raising her tail again and reaching for his cloak, which Serthal held close to his chest.
"Give what?" He asked innocently. "Like I said, you're on me! I can't give you anything unless-" Serthal was hit over the head again, "Still abusive as ever..." He grumbled as Virith pinned him entirely against the ground, to the point where he couldn't move and of his limbs.
"I saw you take it..." she responded, her jade eyes filled completely with anger. He only saw her this angry twice before. The first part was when he accidentally touched her in the wrong area after flying into her. She thought he did it on purpose, as he probably would if he could play it off right, and proceeded to attack him for three hours straight. The second time was when she had caught him and Deltore making jests about her and Deltore's mate, Aleria. Serthal pointed at Deltore and ran, managing to escape; Deltore wasn't so lucky.
"What are you talking about? I never took anything!" Serthal protested, flailing under her. In truth, it was hidden in his back left claw, but Virith would only check the ones that her claws were holding, and never the other ones.
"Then what were you hanging on the ceiling for? And what about you sticking YOUR DAMN TAIL DOWN AND TAKING SOMETHING!?" She shouted, folding her right front claw into a fist and actually punching him in the face.
He was expecting to be hit with her tail, so didn't have time to defend himself as the fist caught his jaw. A drop of blood ran from his mouth as he smirked again. "Oh that," He said in a mock realization, "I dropped it when you TRIED TO KILL ME! You know how I am with electricity! What if I moved?!" he shouted back.
Virith jerked her head back an inch as a bit of guilt ran across her face. She knew perfectly well that she could kill him should she hit him with any of her electric attacks. She only shot him with it if she knew he wouldn't run into it. In fact, as she was an electric dragon, her parents considered separating them so that she didn't kill him. Virith firmly refused and literally dug her claws into Serthal's scales so that they couldn't.
"Shut up." She looked away, "At least I don't go around stealing things from under people's muzzles." Serthal only shrugged...well, as best he could.
"I'm an orphan, Virith!" His eyes flashed. "It's hard not finding enough gems or gold. So I have to do this..." he pleaded, smirking on the inside. If she bought this, he would make his exit.
Virith was quiet for a second, and then she got up, releasing him. However, as he began to roll over, she wrapped her tail around his neck and lifted him off the ground. "Show me where it dropped." She hissed. His heart started to beat erratically, realizing that he was caught.
"Over there." He pointed towards where he was almost killed. Now, he had time to plot his escape from her. The problem was that she had her tail tightly around his neck, almost on the verge of chocking him to death.
As she walked over to where he had pointed, he slipped the talisman from under his claw and lightly tossed it across the stone floor and out of sight. So that way, when she didn't find it, she also wouldn't find it on him, thus sparing him from getting killed. At least, that was the plan.
Virith stopped where he had pointed and looked around, "I don't see it." she growled, glancing back at Serthal, "Do you see it? Because if neither of us see it...you die." she told him.
"I don't see it...but I got a perfect view of something better." he laughed. Virith instantly turned around and slashed across his face, driving him to the ground with three gashes on the side of his face.
"What is wrong with you!? Are females just your playthings?!" Virith shouted, "Do yourself a favor and use the head on your shoulders, not between your legs! Or else I'll personally tear it off!"
"That would count as touching there."
"MY POINT EXACT! SHUT THE HELL UP BEFORE I SEND ELECTRICITY THROUGH YOUR BODY!"
Virith tackled him to the ground and started to claw him, tearing off scales. Serthal fought back, of course, and started to do the same to her. "Are you trying to rape me? If so, I'll pretend to struggle." He asked as he kicked her off.
Blinded by rage, Virith started to fire lightning at Serthal, causing him to run around avoiding them. "DIE!" she yelled as Serthal tripped. He watched as a bolt of lightning forked through the air at him.
Just as it was about to hit him, something grabbed him and pulled him out of the way. Before he knew what was happening, the bolts of lightning stopped as Virith was stopped by what appeared to be a shadow.
"Enough, both of you!" a voice called out as Serthal stood back up. The voice belonged to none other than Deltore, was now standing in between them. "Killing each other won't do anything to fix this!" he continued.
Both he and Serthal had the same color scales, horn and spine structure, and tail-spike, but that was it. His horns were a black color, and he had small facial ones under his chin, along with a large one on the top of his muzzle. They were common in adult male dragons, but Serthal had yet to start growing them yet. The spike on his tail was a black color as well to match his horns, just as Serthal's was a golden color. Their eyes did not match at all; Serthal's were an amber color, while Deltore's were a light blue color with pupils. Because of that, it was hard to tell that they were brothers, but if one stared at them, it was easy to see the similarities.
"Tell him to stop being a disgusting perverted twit!" Virith yelled to Deltore.
"Tell her to stop being such a bitch!" Serthal shot to Deltore.
Serthal's brother looked like he was about to snap. Instead, he flew over to Serthal, grabbed him, and then flew back over Virith. Grabbing her with his claws, he forced both her and Serthal to form some sort of embrace against their will.
"Stay like that until you both calmed down! Are you both hatchlings!?" Deltore sighed to calm down, "I was going to congratulate both of you for your abilities on stealth, but both of you blew it and now security is coming. Unless you two are going to calm down, I will fade into the shadows and make you stay there until they come."
Serthal was confused at what Deltore said. What did he mean by 'congratulate'? "The hell do you mean by that?" Virith snapped, but otherwise didn't move from where she was...right against Serthal, who only smirked at the closeness. Had Deltore not been there...
"What I mean is that both of you never once went into the moonlight until you tackled Serthal and proceeded to kill him." He explained, turning Serthal, "I've been following you for about four months now, and you have the basics for stealth down. Same goes to you, Virith. However, you two need work if you are ever going to obtain this..."
Deltore held up the talisman that Serthal had hidden. Serthal only glared at his brother, as he had interfered with his plans. It was HIS talisman now, as it was HE who took it and hid it from Virith. What the hell was his problem?
Plus, why was he criticizing his stealth?
"Deltore, since when did you turn into a critic on stealth?" Serthal asked in an annoyed tone, "And why were you stalking me?" It was bad enough to have every female chase after him, except for one who was currently pressed against him.
Deltore only smirked and pulled out one of the scales on his shoulder. Both Serthal and Virith were taken aback by this, as scales were connected to a lot of nerves and were painful to tear off. Serthal chose to ignore the pain that Virith had inflicted.
Another awkward thing about Serthal was that he could block out pain. Like now, he could barely feel the gashes on his face, but he knew that they were there because he could feel his warm blood dripping down his face and onto Virith, who twitched every time it happened. The bad part about him ignoring pain was that if he should obtain a serious wound and chose to ignore it, he may forget about it continue to fight or move around, making it worse.
He had had a bad experience with that after he saved Virith from a gang last year. For some odd reason, they managed to surround her and were resistant to her electrical attacks. Still, she managed to kill quite a few. It was when she was defeated and before she was raped that Serthal arrived and took them out using stealth. Unfortunately, both he and Virith sustained serious injuries, Virith breaking two of her limbs from the fight. Serthal had to carry her out with a large gash near his neck and a few slashes on his side that his insides threatened to come out of.
How he managed to do that was beyond him, but after that, he literally could not move without help for three months. Luckily for him, Virith never beat him once during that period, but let out a string of insults on how reckless it was. It was also then when she had a soft moment and embraced him before thanking him, never once leaving his side. Serthal had no idea how to respond, so for once remained silent.
"Are you joking!?" He heard Virith snap, bringing him back to reality. He had a habit of drifting out when someone was talking to him, something that he learned to do when Virith was yelling at him. Sure, he would get hit a few times for not paying attention, but he already knew the one-sided conversation anyway.
"No, I am not." Deltore responded, holding both the talisman and the scale up. The scale had changed to the same color as it and had the same rune, which he immediately recognized now that he was close up.
It was the symbol of Griv'thanos, probably the most famous thieving, assassination, and spying organizations. Serthal had just tried to steal one of their symbols. Had he done so, he would've been hunted down and probably killed. Now he was grateful Virith and Deltore stepped in.
"What did I miss?" Serthal asked as he completely returned to reality.
Virith glared at him, "Were you not paying attention?! Your brother is a member of Griv'thanos!" she hissed, twitching as another drop of blood landed on her shoulder. "You really need to turn away so that I don't get your blood on me."
"I knew that...I was only testing you." Serthal said quickly, "And what else do you want on you? I can-don't hurt me." he was cut off when Virith raised her tail and directed the spikes at his body.
Deltore chuckled slightly, Virith lowering her tail. "Yes, I am a member of Griv'thanos. I did intend to cut Serthal off here and offer him an opportunity to join us, but you cut me off, Virith. I was expecting you to not be trained with that, but you surprised me by actually keeping up with me. You just need to work on your temper." he explained. "Anyway, we need to get out of here before security arrives. Follow me." he told them, jumping back into the shadows. However, before he did so, he placed the talisman back where it was.
Serthal and Virith followed suit, both refusing to look at each other.
--
CLANK!
The clang came from Serthal's head being forced against the cage from the force of Virith's tail. Before he could say or do anything, he suddenly felt himself being dragged out of the cage and dropped onto the ground. The ground was very soft compared to the cage and he just wanted to lay there, but he had a feeling that Virith would continue to hit him until he got up, so did so.
"You dazed off again." Virith said as she held the gem. No doubt she was going to keep it and store it with the rest of the things that shone. "I was tempted to just leave you there. Some of them attacked me, but they were no match for me!"
"Good for you. Can you do me a favor and never do that again? That actually hurt." He said as he held his head in pain. There was definitely going to be a mark...
"That makes it even better for me. I could have easily killed you and you would not react! I find it doubtful that you are my superior after all...as an ex-thief, I expected you to at least be wary of your surroundings." Virith started to walk over to the camp.
Serthal stood there for a few seconds, wincing as she walked away. She did have a point, but she had a brutal way of showing it. Gentle was a word that was unknown to Virith, so he didn't expect anything less. Still, he'd have to make her join some sort of therapy or something. She'd come close to murdering him and others; who's to say that she won't?
Walking after her, he knew what they were looking for, so he went in an opposite direction than her when she went one way. It was some sort box that they needed to find and it was supposedly here, hidden within this gang's junk. It had to be something of value, or else they wouldn't send them to find it, even if it was a training mission. He never wanted to go into a cage again, though.
The ground was very rough and a few times he thought he was about to break a scale or something when he stepped on the broken glass and rocks. Sure, they could just fly, but then they wouldn't be able to see it if it was on the ground. It was supposed to be made of platinum, so it shouldn't be hard to find, right? The box itself might be worth something. Perhaps he could get away with selling it afterwards...
The cloak made it so he felt incredibly warm in the sunlight, but that was a good thing. Being a fire dragon, he needed all the warmth he could get, but he wasn't desperate enough to jump into a volcano like some creatures of myth. He'd be burned alive, first off, and he wasn't entirely resistant to fire as evidenced by his burns. Even though that was with electricity.
Serthal suddenly tripped over something and hit his head on what he guessed was a rock. Already sore from Virith, he growled in pain as he tried to get his now poor vision to see what he hit his head on. It was metallic that was for sure. Feeling around, he felt it in a shape of a box and he grinned. He'd found it before Virith!
That grin disappeared when he realized that he tripped over a corpse and, with a small yelp, scooted away from it. The noise attracted Virith and she walked over and glanced at the corpse, "You expected otherwise, Serthal?" she asked skeptically as she now focused on the glinting box. "Oh good, you found it! Let's open it." She said energetically as Serthal looked at it.
"We were under instructions not to open it..." Serthal said gravely, "But what the hell, they never tell us anything." He gave a devilish grin. He was sure that there had to be one around here...
"Looking for this?"
Both Virith and Serthal looked up to see Deltore looked down onto hem, holding a bright red gem. He was looking a bit disapproving, but at the same time, proud. Deltore now towered over both Virith and Serthal, the latter coming up to his lower jaw. Granted, he was five years older, so he had an advantage in height.
"Gimmie the shiny!" Virith hissed as she tried to swipe to from him, but Deltore held it out of her reach.
"You do realize that if you had opened it, I was under orders to kill you both, right?" He said seriously as both stared blankly at him. "Yes, I would kill even my own brother. You should have known better, Serthal. We warned you ahead of time."
Serthal scowled as he remembered some talking and then not paying attention at all. So he may be lying or speaking the truth...and he would never know either. Deltore held out his other claw and indicated for him to hand it over. "Can I keep the case?" he asked hopefully.
"We'll see." Deltore said as he took the box. "Other than this, you two did well. I think it's time you stopped doing easier missions and step up to more challenging ones. Go back to-" Deltore was cut off when Virith suddenly flew into the air, away from them, "-base...right...she'll get killed if she does that."
"Don't act surprised, Deltore." Serthal commented as he patted his shoulder. "You've known here for an hour longer than me, so you should know her better."
"I suppose..."
Both took to the air, but Virith was nowhere in sight. They knew where she went, though; the main base after stashing away the gem she found. The brothers always joked that her obsession with shiny objects would lead her to do something that will cause the end of the world. A torn wanted picture with a black wolf named 'Krucifi' on with an abnormal reward hit Serthal in the head. He was half tempted to try and take him down himself. It would be suicide, but he didn't care.
Throwing it away, he looked at a really rundown building with visable cracks and it seemed like it was about to fall apart. That was to where he had to go, as that was the Griv'Thanos base. It wasn't his choice; he would have chosen a really nice building with a secret area. Then again, he enjoyed being in areas with lots of dracidons. Always a chance for him to...
Shaking his injured head, he noticed that Deltore was attempting to converse again. "You thinking about her again?" he asked.
"Yes, I'd like to go with Virith..." He responded absently.
"No, I mean about mom. You have that spaced out expression on your face when you do it."
"I wasn't spacing..." Serthal grumbled.
"There you go again." Deltore observed as Serthal shot him a deadly look.
Serthal let out a long sigh, his head sagging. "I never got to say goodbye..." he muttered. Deltore patted him on the shoulder.
They landed as Serthal looked at the grand entrance of the ruined building. It was so wonderful to him to see a rock fall from the entrance. It made him feel so much better knowing that the building could collapse on them at any second.
Looking at each other, they walked in, only to have something whip at Serthal's face. Had he been one millimeter to the right, the spikes at the thing that whipped at him would've caught him in the eye. Instead, it cut the side of his face. The sheer suddenness of the attack took him completely off guard, and it sent him stumbling. After a few seconds, he fell completely on his side, clutching his face. Blood seeped out of the wound, but it wasn't as serious as the last time the dracidon struck him there.
Climbing back to his feet, he ignored the pain from the wound and glared at the attacker. "What the hell?!" he growled, wiping the blood off of his face. Even though it was dark, he knew who it was.
"I guess your instincts are as dull as ever after hitting your head. Perhaps all of that mating did something as well. Maybe you should stop, hmm?" Virith responded, facing him with a grin on her face, "If I had been someone else, you would be dead." She continued, trying not to laugh.
"I'll think about it." Was all he said in response.
"Did you take your medicine today?" She asked as Deltore just shook his head in the background.
"Yes mother." Serthal responded sarcastically, "Do you have your badge on?" he asked in return.
Virith took a scale from her shoulder and took it off, showing it to Serthal. It had changed from an onyx color to a gold color with a rune on it. The rune had something similar to an 'x' with hooked blades coming off the ends of the lines. Why is had that symbol, no one knew. To Serthal, it looked like some sort of bandit symbol.
Serthal pulled off a scale on his shoulder and showed it to Virith and Deltore. It was customary for members of Griv'Thanos to show their badges to each other to prove that they were members. It was affixed to each member of Griv'Thanos, and only stuck to the one that it is bound to.
It was a painful process, but if done right, it only hurt for a few hours. They literally tear off a scale or patch of fur and place the symbol there. For dragons and other scaled creature, it was worse because there were veins under the scales that could cause them to bleed for a bit. Serthal was lucky to have the ability to ignore pain.
After the badge was in place, they used some sort of spell that makes things stick and place it on the flesh, making it removable only by the creators of it or who it is bound to. Unfortunately, it prevents scales or fur to be re-grown. Fortunately, it has some sort of cloaking spell that passes it off as real fur or scales.
"Good." Virith commented as Deltore showed them his badge. Deltore was always quiet whenever Serthal and Virith were together, which kind of confused Serthal. Deltore was usually vocal around him...maybe he fears Virith as well.
"I'm surprised you were so willing to join this, Virith." Serthal said in a surprised way that masked the playful insult, "You always said you wanted to be a princess..." he pretended to stare off in a dreamy way, "Wait...that would really make me your slave."
Virith narrowed her eyes and glared at him, raising her tail, "You really want to be one?"a wide grin formed.
"Maybe...."
"As much as I hate to interrupt you two..." Deltore spoke as Virith advanced on Serthal, "But we are going to be late if you two don't stop." He reminded them, "It would be bad if you failed to report in on time...."
Serthal saw Virith stop and pull her tail back. Even in the dark, he could see her shape, allowing him to see that. The badge...well, the rune glowed. Despite not really being able to see her, he could tell that she was a bit embarrassed.
"Right..." Virith responded, starting to walk into the base. However, she stopped and looked at Serthal, "You need to work on your reflexes better. Or else I will end up killing you one day...." She said in a threatening way to him.
He was unfazed. "If I avoided it the first time, you would keep swinging until you hit me." he replied in a casual way, following her. Deltore followed behind him, smirking for some reason.
Both he and Deltore generally had smirks on their faces, but they were for different reasons. Serthal had it whenever he was thinking of stealing or knowing that he is pissing someone off; Deltore only did it when he was amused.
For some reason, everyone called Serthal and Virith's attitude to each other amusing: Serthal called it abusive. Deltore called it a 'love-hate relationship'. Both of them would tell him to get rid of the love part and he's on the right track.
Serthal followed Virith down to where the meeting room was, which was illuminated from torches as they got closer. It also gave him a perfect view of her backside, which he kept staring at. When she glanced back at him and Deltore, he'd pretend that he was just looking around. He really didn't want another slash across the face. Plus looking at her tail sway with every step was mesmerizing. What he wouldn't give to have her lift her tail and-
-A tap on the shoulder from Deltore brought him back to reality. Shaking his head, he saw that he was about to walk directly into a wooden pole-like object that had fallen from the ruined ceiling. Needless to say, it would've been embarrassing.
"Stop staring at Virith and pay attention." Deltore muttered so that Virith wouldn't hear. "Should we be in the middle of a crisis, you would be killed if you were not paying attention." He continued.
"May be so, but I would die happy because this is one of the things I would actually want to see when I die." Serthal responded, stepping around the wooden pole, "Besides, I could die at any second due to my heart giving out, so I am going to make the most of my life before it gives me the middle claw."
Deltore shook his head and flashed his fangs in a grin, "You really have no regrets, do you?" he asked in a defeated way.
"Hell no. After all, females are my playthings, right Virith?" he addressed Virith to see if she was paying attention. Deltore smacked himself in the face with his own claw.
He heard her sigh, but she otherwise didn't react. This surprised Serthal, as he was hoping she would whip her tail at him so he could hide behind Deltore, causing him to get hit. "How long do we have to walk? I feel like I have been for an entire page!" he growled, getting frustrated with whoever made this pass.
"Not long." A voice responded from behind him. The voice itself was enough to unnerve Serthal. From in front of him, it looked like Virith had merely stopped.
Realizing that the owner of the voice was still behind him, he whirled around and jumped back about two feet. The torches, which he noticed were almost directly in front of him had be not turned around, illuminated the owner of the voice. It was an elderly blue dragon who had a creepy grin on his face. Serthal did not like that grin...at all. To him, it looked like one of the older dragons who preyed on teenage males. He made a mental note to never be alone with this one.
Over his left eye, a large scar that stretched from his forehead, past his eye, and down to his chin. It looked like a large talon had raked across his face. Over the eye with the scar on it, there was a large patch over it. The other eye was a green color.
Despite him being old, he looked like he could move around with ease. This made Serthal even less comfortable. A closer look at him made Serthal realize that he was suffering from some sort of illness, as his scales were a dulled color and seemed to have lost their color.
"Ethinar, what are you doing here?" Deltore asked in a casual tone.
"Seeing the new recruits..." he responded, "Now, I am sure I held you back, making you late." Virith and Deltore nodded, while Serthal was drifting off, "I can safely say that you were with me..."
Ethinar walked past Serthal and Virith and into the lit room, followed by Deltore. "Nervous?" Serthal asked her, already knowing the answer.
"Are you kidding me? I should be asking YOU that!" Virith shot back, smiling wickedly at him. "How soon we forget that it is me who stands up to others while you hide in the shadows."
Serthal put on a fake hurt expression, "Why are you so hurtful?" he asked in a whiny tone.
"Why are you so perverted?" she smacked his shoulder lightly, entering the room with the grin still plastered to her face. Rolling his eyes, he followed her.
The room was actually brightly lit, which kind of made Serthal wonder why it would be like that if it was a band of thieves. Seriously, what kind of thief just sits here and chats in the light!? He thought to himself as he curled up in one of the many bowl-like objects.
Quadrupeds, creatures that walked on four legs, preferred to just curl up rather than sit straight up. Serthal had tried sitting one of the things that bipedal creatures called 'chairs' and failed miserably, so he just yelled 'screw it' and broke it. Of course, he ran before anyone caught him.
Glancing around, he saw that there was one other besides the one called Ethinar, Deltore, and Virith. Serthal didn't even notice it until he bumped right into it, staring up at soulless red eyes. The armor was also quite bulky and imposing that he felt a little terrified under the gaze.
The armor itself was completely black, so if the torches were to suddenly go out, it would be impossible to see. The shoulder plates of it were stacked about three times, and on the top layer, spikes seemed to sprout out of it. Each was sticking straight up for a few inches, and then they curved away from the headpiece. The headpiece was...well, nothing. It was just like a giant headpiece without any breathing areas.
It was the HUGE sword that the thing had. It was about three yards shorter than the armor's twelve yard-long statue. It was almost as wide as Serthal, and should it fall on him, he would instantly be cut in two. Thankfully, it was pointed downwards into the ground while the spiked gauntlets of the armor were tightly wrapped around it. He only hoped that he wouldn't have to walk near it...the thing was freaky enough. Serthal then looked at its back, where a large, torn black cape reached down to its legs. From the looks of it, it looked very old.
"Are we all present?" Ethinar asked, his eye never leaving Serthal until he sat down. "Good! Now, for the two younglings, you have not been introduced to my dear friend, Inthnar!" the armor nodded its head in a greeting. Serthal paled even more and even Virith fidgeted. "Come now, just because he is a giant suit of armor doesn't mean he is evil! Although be warned that he can kill you without even flexing a muscle!" he chortled, and although the elderly dragon said it as a joke, there was this air of seriousness that never left.
It was Virith's turn to look at Inthnar, "You scared of him?" she asked quietly Serthal slyly, her grin returning.
"Hell yes." came Serthal's reply. Virith only laughed silently at his reply, causing him to glare at her, "Don't pretend you're not. If he can kill you from where he is, that is something to be feared." He returned her grin when he saw hers fade slightly, "Don't worry, when I use you as a shield, I'll make sure you die quickly." He added.
Virith smacked in the face with her tail hard enough to knock him to the ground and then flipped the bowl-like seat over him, covering him entirely. When he didn't come out after a few minutes, she couldn't help but wonder if she knocked him out.
"I think he's dead." She heard Deltore comment from behind her as he walked over, "You did catch him pretty good in the jaw, so I wouldn't be surprised if you snapped his neck." Deltore lifted the bowl and looked inside before shutting it and backing away, "...You...you did snap his neck..." He said, all traces of humor gone.
Worry poured through Virith like an open wound. Had she really killed him? She'd always say that she would kill him and beat him...but if she actually did it...well...she'd seen a corpse, didn't she? She could handle seeing his body....
As she moved towards where Serthal supposedly died, she noticed that Ethinar and Inthnar were slowly coming over. Holding her breath she lifted the bowl...
It was at that time that something burst out it and tackled her to the ground, playfully hitting her. Of course....she should've seen this coming a mile away. Now she was REALLY going to kill him. She folded her claws into a fist and connected the fist with his jaw, startling Serthal. Taking that opportunity, she smacked him off and when he was on the ground, kept hitting him over and over again with her tail, intending to drawing blood.
A pair of claws wrapped around her, pulling him away from the beaten Serthal, who only laughed at her beating. The claws belonged to Deltore, who dragged her away from killing Serthal. She struggled against him, but something grazed her horns and crashed into a wall to her right.
Glancing over to her left, where whatever grazed her horns came from, she saw that Inthnar was pointing his massive sword....at her. Her heart froze; Ethinar wasn't joking. She went limp and didn't struggle anymore. The eyes drove fear into her very core.
Ethinar chuckled a little bit. "Now that that is finished..." he said, casting a glance at Inthnar, who was still staring at Virith, "I think it's time that we discuss your first mission..."
Serthal, who had managed to at least lean on his side from the beatings that Virith gave him, now stared at Ethinar. "Finally, you get onto subject!" Serthal exclaimed.
Ethinar glared at him for a second, "Anyway..." he continued, ignoring Serthal, "We have received information that some noble the next town over is planning something big. We have no idea what, though. That is what we have been trying to figure out for the past few weeks. However, an opportunity arose so we can figure out what he is planning. We would be foolish to not use it." he explained.
"What is it?" Deltore asked curiously.
"He is holding some sort of festival near his home. I know not why he is holding it, but it may be his downfall, as we can easily get to it, for all are invited. However...there is a small catch..." Ethinar smirked, "Only couples can get in for free."
Serthal rolled his eyes at that comment. He could easily get a date. All he had to do was ask some random dragoness if she wanted to go. Chances are the first one he asked would say yes. Virith, on the other claw, would have a rough time.
"I can just bring Aleria." Deltore said, "However, that leaves the subject of Serthal and Virith...." he added, smirking evilly. Serthal knew what he was getting at and slowly turned to Virith, a wide grin slowly forming.
"Uh no." Virith, who had broken free of Deltore, started up. "I already have a date and I was planning to take him regardless."
The brothers both glanced at each other before deciding to tag-team against her. "Oh? I always thought that the males except me would run away. I'd very much like to meet this male." Serthal questioned; Virith turned away.
"Virith, I can detect when someone is lying; from your reaction, I can tell that you are." Deltore nudged her gently, earning a swipe, "Plus, from what Serthal tells me, he's the only one who can handle you..."
Virith snapped at him, pulling at her horns before sighing. "Fine, you caught me." Serthal glanced at Deltore, surprised that she would give in so quickly, "I just...bah, whatever. I'll go, but you all will owe me."
"Don't worry, I'll make it all better for you..." Serthal chuckled.
"It's settled then. You two will go as a couple...." Ethinar said in an amused tone/
Virith growled at Ethinar in a threatening way, but the staring from Inthnar stopped her from attacking. To Serthal, she reminded him of Aurgal or whatever his name is in the story he read. However, that took place before even Deltore was born, so if he was truly alive, he would have to be around forty...Virith's parents were around thirty five.
"This happens tomorrow, so be prepared." The elderly dragon concluded, looking at Virith, "Tell your parents that you are going with Serthal somewhere. Last thing we need is a search going on because of them..."
Virith violently shook her head, "I'm NOT telling them THAT! They'll probably suspect things I don't want them to." she grumbled, casting a glare at Serthal, who only shrugged. He couldn't help his attempts.
"Whatever, just make up an excuse." Ethinar shrugged, indicating to the exit, "Inthnar I don't want to bog you down with this, so you don't have to come."
Deltore bowed and exited, leaving Virith and Serthal behind, "This will be interesting." Serthal commented, "I wanna see if you can go the whole night without beating me." He laughed, starting after his brother.
"How about I beat you now AND tomorrow?" Virith shot back, following him.
Serthal turned around and started to walk backwards, "Oh come on, why can't we just have a nice, fantasy night? Y'know, when dracidons sleep with each other after three hours of meeting...why can't you be like that?" he asked innocently, dodging Virith's tail.
"I don't give up anything like that after one night...especially with YOU!" Virith growled, "You have five seconds to start running." She threatened.
Serthal didn't waste them.
After they left, Ethinar grinned. "Good..." he said. Once he was sure they had left the building, he reached for his shoulder and felt around for his badge. Once he found it, he took it off.
As soon as he did that...he changed. He didn't drastically change appearance or size...but he did change. Should one look at him now, they would probably run in terror, for he was truly something from nightmares.
His scales and flesh were gone in some locations, while the remaining flesh was either rotting or falling off. The patch had fallen to the ground, revealing no eye at all...just an empty bone socket. The other side of his face still had an eye and flesh on it. The skeletal part of his face stretched all the way down to his shoulder, where it connected with flesh. The entire left side of his neck was just a giant hole, where the spine could easily be seen. Ribs were perfectly exposed, while rotting organs seemed ready to fall out of the flesh. Not that he needed them anyway. Some parts of his tail were skeletal, and the spike at the end was diseased.
His talons were also were a malformed color and diseased, but they were incredibly sharp. That was because they were made to rend flesh like a hot knife through butter. In fact, every piece of his was diseased, especially his razor sharp fangs, which could be used to spread this illness.
Except this wasn't any illness....this was Undeath.
"Lord Inthnar..." Ethinar rasped, bowing to the armored figure, who turned to face him, "The others are ready...we are ready to turn this area into a setting stone for a base."
Inthnar didn't respond, but he stabbed the earth, creating tremors and cracks in it. After that, he pointed to the exit with the weapon. It was clear that he wanted Ethinar to get the others.
"One last thing, if I may..." he said to Inthnar, who just stared down at him, "I believe we have found the prime candidate for the Dracolich project..." he explained. Inthnar motioned him to continue, "It is none other than Deltore. He had all we are looking for...should we intercept them?"
Inthnar shook his head and pointed at a map that had been carelessly left on the floor. He pointed with his sword in the direction that they were going. He then tapped where they were and motioned at Ethinar. Finally, he traced where they would come back...then stabbed the map where they were to go.
Ethinar nodded. His lord wanted them to wait until the others left, and then attack. After they attacked, they would ambush them when they were on the way back. It was brilliant...at least, if that was the plan. However, a quick look at Inthnar told him otherwise.
"You wish to go to the party, master? I never knew you were the party type..." the undead commented. The armor simply shrugged, pointing to the badge and then to Ethinar, then to the exit. Ethinar placed the badge back on him...making 'alive' again. Nodding to Inthnar, he went through the exit and started towards outside. This was the final day for him passing as a living.
Tomorrow, he would finally be able to feast on the living, like he did all those years ago...