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Post by ᗩпїra on Jan 1, 2014 2:52:22 GMT -5
The sun was just beginning to set over the serene waters of the Northern Sea. A beautiful array of reds, oranges, and yellows painted the surface of the sea, seagulls and other various birds could be seen singing and dancing along the air drifts. Ivory clouds gleefully sauntered across the airbrushed the portrait. It was truly a picture perfect image, yet a rising ebony and violet dot soon made an appearance on the horizon line.
The light caught upon the exterior of the incoming creature, blocking out the fiery, burning ball in the sky to a point that the shape became more detailed and visible to the naked eye. The huge wingspan buffeted the sea spray cast upwards from the collision of waves, the mist catching upon the membranes in such a manner that it became almost marvelous. As the beast soared closer to the sandy beach-line, a weird creature on the back of the animal became perceivable. It appeared to be a woman clothed in an exquisite ivory gown that fit her fine and petite structure. The gown was laced with a gold floral pattern along the bodice and skirt, a sash of the same coloring tying off in the back with a bow. Her countenance was hidden under a pearl cloak with a satin texture. Ebony hair, wait, no, violet locks could almost be seen, odd optics drained of all color except the ebony island in the center holding a hardness to them. Her framed face was of a pale coloring resembling that of snow. The elfin lady had a weapon holster made of ivory leather equipped around her waist, a blade and two daggers hidden within its midst. She was seated upon a saddle adorned with lavender gems that she had filled with power, gold and silver inlaid the main structure to give it a mystique feel. Dainty hands held onto the saddle horn to keep her frame straight upon the moving beast, luminaries narrowing in an attempt to catch sight of the forest lining the intricate beach coated with driftwood and seaweed. Little did those watching know, but she was finally home. They were finally home.
It was a dragon and rider. One that was well-known to many, yet unknown by nations. She went by the name of Anira, given to her from birth by the parents that were now dead to the world. Killed off in the war, the War of Wars, and she couldn't miss them more. The dragon was given the title Herion at the time of the choosing of his Rider. The ebony and violet iridescent coloring of her locks and the elegant crystalline optics are a constant reminder of the strong connection between the pair, as the two occurrences happened at the moment of direct contact between the dragon and rider.
The pair had left in search of adventure, traveling the outside lands and discovering many new and out-of-the-ordinary customs from tribal people. It had been a wonderful experience, but, like all great fairy tales, one must return home sooner or later. Here they were, traveling at great speeds back to the land of their birth and reign. It was time to meet with old friends, to learn about the condition of their homeland, and to assist in saving it from the grasp of the evil king that was power hungry.
"We're here."
"Finally."
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Post by Quetzal on Jan 1, 2014 7:24:14 GMT -5
It had been a week since they had left Ellesmera. Isrydia and Arlyn had been flying quickly to reach the Utgard mountain in time for the gathering of Riders that was happening there, slowed because Arlyn was new to carrying a Rider on his back. They had made good time and had enough spare to take a quick trip up past the Spine towards the coast. They didn't have anything in mind, it was just nice to explore.
A flash of purple in the distance caught Arlyn's eye as the two were exploring the fields on foot. He took to the skies, hoping for a better look. Isrydia was confused. "What are you doing?" she shouted up at him. It would be easier to be heard if she'd spoken into his mind, but she preferred to speak aloud. In response he sent her an image of a purple blob flying across the waters before landing again, having seen enough.
"Another dragon!" he said excitedly. Isrydia smiled and wondered who it could be. Purple was the colour of Herion, Anira's dragon. She hadn't seen them in months, not since she first arrived in Ellesmera. That fit in well with the image of them flying across the water; they may have been away exploring all that while. She was on her guard, though. It could also be someone from a foreign land across the sea. They could be a friend or a threat. They might know things completely alien to her, and the dragon might be a creature very different to the one standing at her side. Did they even have dragons across the sea? Very little was known from there. Knowing that this was the unknown filled her with a burning desire to go to those foreign lands, or at least speak to this person.
Walking up to the coast together, the Rider and dragon came closer. As Isrydia walked closer and Herion flew closer, she could see that it was indeed the other Rider she remembered and not a mysterious figure from a far-off land. She grinned. She'd rarely had the chance to speak to Anira on their journey to Ellesmera. They had spoken a bit once they had arrived, but Anira had left. Wherever she had gone, she was bound to have some interesting stories to tell.
"Anira! Hey!" she ran towards the other woman once they had landed. Arlyn bounded after her. "It's been ages. Where have you been?" she asked. |
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Post by ᗩпїra on Jan 1, 2014 8:09:24 GMT -5
Anira and Herion had spotted the pair approaching from a distance, though it was difficult to get a detailed picture of their appearance because of the long shadows cast by the setting sun. The two continued onward despite the possible threat, believing that, if anything, the pair could hold out quite well with Herion's larger size and Anira's stronger magical abilities. The odd factor was that Herion appeared to recognize the dragon, while Anira found that the dirty blonde locks struck a familiar memory. A memory, one that she couldn't seem to put a finger upon, yet it was there. Perhaps it had been in Ellesmera? That had been months ago, hadn't it? It couldn't possibly be Isrydia and Arlyn, correct?
As Herion slowly lowered towards the sandy beach, his large wingspan sent sand tossing up into the air in a mighty whirlwind, palm trees swaying and creaking in protest. His front appendages struck the ground with a sigh, as the two had traveled far and wide to reach their homeland again. The two were, honestly, exhausted, a bit fatigued, and in need of a good rest. Not to mention that their food rations would have been completely gone if the pair hadn't arrived today or tomorrow.
Herion gently lowered himself to the ground to allow Anira an exit by his upper right arm, the ivory cloaked figure tentatively getting onto the beach with only a little bit of difficulty. Her pearl, flat-bottomed running boots dug into the grains of sand, sending silent prayers upward to whatever god wished to listen in gratitude for a safe trip. It wasn't until the dragon and rider the two had seen from above got closer did Herion and Anira recognize and pinpoint their proper titles.
"Isrydia! Arlyn! Greetings! How are you fairing? It has been so long." Anira piped up with a faint grin lighting up her features, turning to lean against the flank of Herion as her legs wouldn't cooperate with the change of terrain. It felt as if it had been ages since she strolled across flat land, as the mountainous terrain in the unknown islands was pure torture.
"Salutations." Herion spoke up after Anira had replied, glad to see that the old friends seemed to be in good health. He, of course, was also quite tired, his thick wings sending protests through his nerves in a violent manner. Ah, how it felt to just fold them up against his back and just, well, rest. The violet beast would continue to listen to the conversation, though he'd let his Rider do most of the speaking.
"We've been traveling the other lands. You won't believe what is out there, as it is truly marvelous. A few of the tribes I went to didn't even know about dragon riders, witches, elves, black magic, and other oddities. I spoke to them about Alagaësia, yet it was almost too strange to believe for the tribe's people. Very beautiful climate, large mountains, none as huge as the Beor, yet very rocky, dangerous, and with various creatures that aren't common in these lands." she attempted to summarize the main events of her travels into one singular statement, yet it was difficult not to mention all the little details in between. "What has taken place during our absence?"
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Post by Quetzal on Jan 2, 2014 12:31:19 GMT -5
Isrydia listened with wide eyes to Anira's brief recount of her travels. To have never heard of Rider or elves was strange to her. Those were the stories that she had grown up with; every child she knew would play games reenacting the heroes of old. How strange Anira and Herion must have been to them! Arlyn wanted to go there, see these mountains, talk to the tribespeople. Isrydia wanted to go too, but their place was here and it was too far away over there.
"They had really never heard of Riders or even elves before? I thought dragons must have reached far and wide. Did they have any magic of their own? What about the creatures, what were they like?" Isrydia asked eagerly. She was curious about this other land.
Arlyn saw Herion relax, and couldn't blame him. He had no idea how far away this other place was, but it must be several days of constant flying. The other dragon's wings must ache terribly.
What had happened since Anira left? Quite a lot. "I've been in Ellesmera until recently so I don't know so much of what's been going on in the Empire, but quite a bit has happened since you left. Eragon still hasn't been found, but Brenton's gone out with another search party. I don't think there's much hope there to be honest. This man called Ashendale and dragon-thing called Nelfarion made themselves known. They use some terrible dark magic. We fought them and though they'd killed Brenton and Grazael, but they'd only sent them to the desert and aged them twelve years. We drove them off but they turned up again very recently. Nelfarion turned out to be a man named Navarog with evil spirits in him, and a wizard called Camarat sent him away. Oh, and these Rider Branch things were reformed. There's five, one for each element. We're Air, and Herion's purple so you'd be Psychic, unless you trained to join a different Branch," she said every big event she could think of that came to mind.
Arlyn blinked. That was a long list of things. A lot more had happened while they were in Ellesmera than he had realised. The dragon thought she'd covered everything briefly, but there could always be something she'd missed out. |
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Post by ᗩпїra on Jan 2, 2014 16:03:44 GMT -5
"The tribespeople didn't have any magic, nor did they ever hear of wizards, werecats, dwarfs, elves, magic, dragons, and other oddities. In their eyes, we were more of a god, and Herion and I were welcomed into each one of the various villages and gifted many luxuries. We told them many stories of our travels, each storytelling being visited by the whole tribe with the fascination being so great. It was so strange to be treated like a superior, and all in all, it was a wonderful experience." Anira stated with a faint grin lighting up her features at the memory of the tribes and the marvelous mountain ranges that dipped into a single valley where villages would dot the land every mile or so.
"The people believed in a god called Aroso and Fiona. Aroso controlled the sky, night and day, weather, the sun and moon, and the creatures of the sky. Fiona was the mother of Earth, and was said to have created it with Aroso to declare their love for each other. Herion and I were said to have been born by the two, as I was from the Earth, yet Herion was from the sky. It is an interesting religion, yet like my brethren, I cease to believe in any creator, though I cannot say I don't thank whatever higher being there is ever so often in times of mourning or celebration." Anira took a moment to caress one of Herion's violet scales, peering at the fine texture with a curious eye about her. She recollected the different species that had been on the isles, gaining Herion's assistance while she was doing so.
"The creatures, well, there were many. Deer, they had horns instead of antlers, while birds and other species didn't have feathers, but instead had types of scales. Insects that I've never laid eyes upon were present, while there were also strange hybrids of mountainous species that would be difficult to describe. I saw a turtle with a clear shell, while fish in a stream were poisonous enough to pollute the waters. The tribespeople boiled their water to rid it of the poison. The fish were edible, as long as the white meat didn't make contact with the scales. We learned a lot from it all, while they learned much from us. An amazing learning experience, indeed." Anira finished off with a sigh, leaning against the flank of Herion to take some weight off of her sore legs. The two were exhausted from the two weeks of traveling, stopping on and off to investigate isles for food and water to continue the trip.
Herion and Anira politely listened to Isrydia's summary of what had taken place while the pair were gone, nodding her cranium here and there to show that she was keeping up with all the new information. "Rider branches? Interesting. Herion and I have always had a strong connection to each other, so I suppose that explains that topic. Would we have to go through any particular training for being in the physic branch, or is it automatically chosen with the joining of dragon and rider?" Anira questioned Isrydia with an engrossed demeanor. Physic. Did that mean she had a stronger sense of magic and could see into the future or past? Perhaps if she met with a trainer of the physic then she could get more information on the topic. "How many other physic riders are there, do you know?" Wouldn't it be fascinating to meet someone with their same abilities?
"Ashendale and the dragon-thing called Nelfarion, are they something to worry about? Have they been seen recently? We wouldn't want to run into any problems on our flight back to Ellesmera. We're going to be staying there for the time being." Anira finished off her round of questions only to begin thinking of more, keeping them pushed to the back of her mind as it would be best to save them for a later time. She would just have to continue to catch up with the world with those she meets back in her homeland.
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Post by Quetzal on Jan 2, 2014 18:38:17 GMT -5
The other land sounded wonderful from Anira's description. The people seemed both primitive and advanced at the same time. Never hearing of any magic or the races found in Alagaesia was to be forgiven if they never ventured to Alagaesia and people from this side of the sea rarely visited their land. Living in tribes in the mountains sounded primitive, yet they had their own religion and knew tricks like boiling the water to help them. They didn't sound too different to the humans here, just living in a different culture.
Their religious beliefs sounded interesting and Isrydia thought it odd they considered Anira and Herion to be made by their gods, but could see why they'd make the connection to explain something unexplainable like a dragon and elf with magic. She herself thought the stars could be god of some sort, the countless thousands each playing a role. Perhaps there was even a guardian up there for each person down on earth. She couldn't tell.
The animals were exciting to hear about as well. Isrydia loved to learn of new creatures and cultures.
It would seem she had some more explaining to do regarding the Branches and Ashendale and Nelfarion. "What Branch a Rider is in is decided by the colour of the dragon's scales, but with enough training they can choose a different Branch. Aside from Air and Psychic, there's Water, Fire and Earth. Purple coloured dragons are naturally with the Psychic Branch, so you won't need any training first," she went into a bit more detail.
"You'll naturally take to some abilities, but you'll still need some training to really hone them. You could pick them up yourself and practice a lot, but that would take longer," Arlyn said. "I know the Psychic Elder is Rerukusu, and you wouldn't want to meet him. His first dragon died long ago and he forced another to hatch for him to replace her," she shuddered at the thought, Arlyn far more disgusted than she was. "There are others, but I'm not sure who. I've heard the name Stiarna, and before I became a Rider I met one called Caspia with a purple dragon called Amira, so they could be Psychic Branch too," she hadn't heard from those two in a while. They were known to be reclusive.
"We fought Ashendale and Nelfarion just before we left Ellesmera about a week ago, but Camarat still has Nelfarion safely sealed away to try making him human again, but Ashendale is still out there. I expect he'll go after Nelfarion before trying anything else in Du Weldenvarden, so you'll be safe," Arlyn hoped he was right. "But you two must be too tired to go all that way now, surely. There are plenty of small farming villages around here where you might find a bed to rest on," [/color] he reminded them. Sleeping in a bed was far better than camping.[/blockquote] |
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