Dragon Mirror- Ties Between the Veil

Gadrhagnar, High Seat of the Council of the Protectora, the Keeper of the Western Gate, and Bastion of Cavern Brillando, was in a foul mood.

The messenger from Auscilla had only complicated his current irritation. He held his beard in his hand, resisting the urge to tug on it, staring at the obviously anxious rider.

“Where is this Drakunmagi?”

“I- I do not know, Protectora. I rode from Auscilla as they were leaving…” They trailed off as they realized they had obviously said the wrong thing. Gadrhagnar’s scowl deepened and his fingers jerked spasmodically.

“You saw this supposed Drakunmagi and did not find out where they were going?” He roared, causing the messenger to flinch and straighten in attention.

“Protectora- They are likely heading to Silkvetr! I recognized Ianor Sin’Tallah and several of that city's guard!”

The High Seat of the Protectora stared down in absolute incredulity. That the messenger had recognized the cursed sibling and blood traitor of the Queen in the company of the DrakunMagi and had not led with this information was the height of idiocy. He waited, and the messenger shifted nervously. Gadrhagnar felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. A soft voice spoke.

“This child has been riding nonstop to reach us with this news. Do not shoot the messenger because you dislike the news.”

He grit his teeth, not looking up at Helsa Ren’Nei, another of the Protectora. The woman had the gall to still treat him as if they shared sheets, even after choosing an empty headed snit as her second spouse.

Standing quickly to remove her hand without making it obvious, the man stiffly walked to a side table and poured out a cup of water. He turned to offer it to the messenger with the same black scowl that had veiled his countenance since they had delivered the news of Blight.

The messenger hesitantly took the cup and looked for reassurance from Helsa. The woman smiled and gestured to a table at the side of the audience chamber.

“Bienvenido, siéntate.” The hint of command in her voice made them hurry to comply, they took a seat and nervously held their cup in both hands.

On the table was a large map of the continent, marked out in red were human settlements, and Charbitian in indigo. Silkvetr was marked by a black border.

Gadrhagnar was about to make another agitated comment, yet was forestalled when Helsa pointed to Auscilla on the map and spoke.

“How many instances of the Blight in this city?”

“Only one, Protectora.”

She looked up at Gadrhagnar, warning him to be quiet. She took a handful of black pin markers from a case on the table and placed one. The messenger nodded, but gaped as she bounced the pins in her palm, and took two more and placed them on the map.

Even Gadrhagnar was startled. They had been keeping the knowledge of a Blight occurrence in Temp’Allah concealed, and Helsa had just placed a third. He craned his neck to look at the map and gasped.

“Darm’Bien has been affected by Blight?” Helsa met his eyes and gave a slight nod.

He looked down at the messenger in frustration. The Council of the Protectora had discovered an occurrence of Blight within Temp’Allah and quickly laid the unfortunate to eternal rest in the Crya’Shal falls. They had not been able to track any instance of Aya’Chyn or Daroul interference. But it had not spread.

They had decided to conceal this instance, as it had happened infrequently over the centuries. The few times the information had been made public, there had been mass panic and riots.

Gadrhagnar glanced meaningfully at the messenger, but Helsa placed five more pins around the single pin in Darm’Bien. His mouth dropped open.

“The Protectora have received news that there are six, possibly more occurrences of Blight in Darm’Bien. We cannot contain this information.”

When Gadrhagnar angrily began to speak, she raised her voice, “Protectora Salita was among the affected when she went to handle the situation.”

The messenger cried out softly, dropping their cup, spilling it across the map. As they apologized profusely, the ink from the markings of the cities bled into the water, creating a cloud of red and blue black.

Helsa stared down solemnly as she watched the ink spread from the settlements as if watching the Blight consume her people, as it surely would. Those inducted into the Protectora had usually been granted immunity to the Blight through their blood ties.

The past two centuries had seen the induction of more pure blooded Charbitian members, including Salita and several others. Gadrhagnar and Helsa were among those with minimal human heritage.

“The Protectora are failing, the spell form is no longer powered. We must find Queen Cassiridara and rectify our failings, whatever you may feel about the humans.”

Gadrhagnar grit his teeth, refusing to argue about the “necessity” of HalfBloods to fuel the Protectora spell forms.

The messenger hesitantly asked, “And what of the DrakunMagi?”

Helsa looked coldly down on them, “Quémalros con la Plaga.”

Burn them with the Blight.

They had encountered a small child sitting alone in the Wild’s. She had run to them, crying, face covered in dirt. Her clothing was torn and soiled.

But they soon discovered that the child was not alone. She had taken the forward guard's hand and pulled him excitedly toward a stand of trees, while Ian and two others followed.

“You have to make mama stop painting- please make her stop! She’s hurting herself!”

The unfortunate man rounded a tree to witness a skeletal woman, who at first seemed to be painting the side of the white barked tree red and brown. He quickly realized that the woman was not painting- but grinding what was left of her fingers and hands into the bark.

The guard behind him cried out and scooped the child into his arms, running back to the main group. The call of “Blight! Blight!” Sounded while the first guard vomited into the bushes next to the Blighted, who continued to stab the nubs of bone and gore into the tree.

The child wailed piteously as she was passed out of sight of her mother, and Ian sent word back through the group for Raina and his sister to join him.

He quashed his fear at being so close to someone affected with Blight. His eyes narrowed as he studied the woman. She paid no attention to him, mindlessly scrubbing and moving. The tree bark had grooves worn into the soft wood, depicting the frightening visage of a screaming face.

“Oh my fucking god- make her stop!”

Ian slowly turned, surprised to see Raina standing with her hands covering her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Kasey stared at the gruesome scene. Her face was pale as she spoke. “She will never stop. Not until the flesh rots from her bones.”

Closing his eyes, Ian looked away from Raina. He struggled with himself at seeing her beautiful face contorted in distress. He looked back at the blighted.

“It could take weeks for the Protectora to arrive.” Kasey grunted as if struck. She knew what he was about to say.

“This woman will die before she could be laid to rest in Crya’Shal.”

Raina stepped towards him, “What- what does that even mean?”

“He means we should kill her and burn the body.” Kasey said bitterly, stepping up next to her, glaring at her brother. Ian bared his teeth in a grimace.

“Qué quieres que haga?” He snarled.

What do you want me to do?

Kasey didn’t flinch. “We must try and sustain her until they arrive.”

Ian gave her an ugly laugh. “And risk the Blight passing to us?” He glanced at Raina, seeking the answer to something in her eyes. If only we could know you aren’t the cause of this…

The awe of her manifestation of the Arbol de la Vida had worn away, and the suspicion had crept back into his very being at being confronted with the Blighted.

“We can’t just…” Raina stopped when he sucked in his breath, staring at her. She sniffled, “There’s no other way?”

There is nothing left behind except the ghost of the spark that existed. The Blight devours the soul and leaves behind an echo of an echo.

They all turned as Tralna steadily walked towards them, Supi sullenly being led by his reigns that were still tied to her saddle.

“You cannot know tha-” Kasey was cut off as a force blew past her and they all heard a body hit the soft leaf litter of the forest behind them.

Kasey whirled, first staring at the crumpled body of the blighted woman and then turning back on Tralna in barely contained rage.

“Monstruo!”

The Aya’Chyn stared back, unphased. Her crest remained relaxed, her plumed tail waved side to side.

I am the Will of Elohima Palliza. Monstrous enough, but not as barbaric as the Protectora’s practice of storing the Blighted in the Crya’Shal Falls. I do not understand why my Drakun mate tolerates this foolishness.

Before his sister could retort, Ian interjected. “Thank you, Elohima. We should burn the body where it is, and contain the sprea-”

“Sire, there’s a problem.”

Ian turned to see the guard that had carried away the child, returned. His guts twisted as his first thought overcame him. No… no la niña….

“The child,” Ian felt his stomach drop, “The child says her mother took her to the woods to flee the fires.”

Ian took a moment to process what he was hearing when Raina hesitantly asked, “Fires?”

The guard's face was pallid and solemn. “Verrel was set on fire as the entire populace began to succumb to Blight. Her mother started acting erratic shortly after they left the village. The child does not think anyone else survived.”