Chapter 89 – Xenophobia.

Crystal twirled in front of Rachael, wings and tail suppressed so that her lover could get an unobstructed view of her. Rachael had made her some clothes to wear as a change from her armour, fashioned out of pure mana, and it would have been a crime not to try them on right away, even if they were still in the skimmer and space was limited. Granted there was nothing wrong with her armour, it was in fact very comfortable, and she had been wearing it pretty much all the time since she had been made complete, well, at least when she wasn’t sleeping beside Rachael. But it was nice to have some variety, and Crystal had made some not at all subtle hints about wanting to try on some different things. Then Rachael had surprised her when she had dumped some garments in her hands, breaking the boredom of the sea passing beneath them and the endless spiral of contemplation of Arcane’s actions that had been plaguing them both since they had left the island.

Leaving the island had been a lot easier than they had expected. Surprisingly so. It was as if whatever purpose there had been in bringing them there had been fulfilled, and now the force behind it all was keen to get rid of them. Which also made it rather suspicious as well. Sure, some of what they had seen could have been lies built upon the truth of their memories, but deep down Crystal knew that it wasn’t so. What they had seen had been the truth, the memories of the island, trapped in time. Arcane had been manipulating them more than they had realised, and while it was unsettling, it wasn’t anything new. Arcane had all but admitted it during the ritual to bring back Velvet, hidden within the visions that they had seen. Crystal could not claim to understand all of what she had seen there, but she certainly understood the intent. And Rachael was even firmer on that belief. It was probably a good thing that she had managed to renege their titles relating to her, or there could have been some strange repercussions for them all. But it did mean that they had no idea what the ancient was up to, or where she was. Granted that was the case for all of them, the true full nature of the titles still a mystery for all involved, but for Arcane that was actually a worry.

While it had been Warrior that had pointed them rather blatantly in that direction, Crystal knew that she wasn’t the one behind it all, rather just an ancient carrying out a favour for another one of her kind, and even with their rather privileged relationship with her, Warrior was still not divulging who was behind it. She’d have her reasons Crystal knew, but still. Ancients and their secrets.

Well, to some degree, that could describe their entire existence.

Crystal doubted that even the two of them would ever get a decent understanding of the ancients. Only time would tell though, and there was no knowing how much of that they would have. Hopefully quite a lot, and Crystal was looking forward to spending it all with Rachael.

She was getting distracted again.

Pushing the thoughts about the ancients to the side, Crystal focused on the more pleasant now. Rachael’s finesse at using her magic had always been something to marvel at, and all that had transpired just made it more so, especially when seeing her forming more clothes in front of her. Currently Crystal was wearing what she guessed was a ball or formal dress, black, silky and very much figure hugging, thin straps over her shoulders, the dress starting properly part way over her chest and showing off plenty of cleavage. While it went all the way down to the floor, a split opened it up just below her hip, revealing all of her left leg from the front and most of her right as it wrapped around it, only covering her legs completely from behind. There wasn’t much of a back to it either, but that was par for the course. Add in a dainty pair of high heels and some jewellery, and the image was pretty much complete. She had to admit that she quite liked it. In fact, she had quite liked all of the dresses that Rachael had made for, and even if this one was the simplest of the lot, like the others it still fell into the impractical for everyday wear category. That was probably part of the appeal, and Crystal certainly wasn’t complaining. If it wasn’t for Rachael’s magic, she probably would never have gotten to try them on in the first place.

Rachael was just staring at her, blushing and a happy grin on her face. “You look stunning.” She had said that for all of them. And meant it every time.

Crystal blushed, and seductively walked up to her. “I can only imagine how you’d look,” she purred with heated breath as she wrapped her arms around her. Even just imagining Rachael dressed like that did things to her. To say that her soulmate would be more than stunning would be an understatement.

“Once you’ve tried on the last one,” Rachael whispered teasingly in her ear. “There’s not enough space for us both to be putting on a show,” she added.

Fairweather chuckled from the pilots seat, and she was sure that Clocky was probably rolling his eyes. Crystal pouted, letting her hands slide slowly down along Rachael’s body before she reluctantly stepped back.

“We’ll really have to find an occasion to wear them for real though,” Rachael said, that cheeky smile still on her face and a sparkle in her eyes as Crystal ducked further back into the skimmer and out of view of the pilot seat, though not of Rachael, stripped off the dress and shoes and changed into the remaining outfit. Exercise tights, crop top, zip hoodie, and a pair of matching socks and sneakers.

They were actually really comfortable. Crystal could understand why Rachael liked them so much and was still wearing them as her outfit of choice, even if her ones had been modified to be a lot more durable and protective than the fabric usually was. Mind you, everything Rachael had made had been comfortable. It was a little weird to not be wearing heels though, making her that little bit more shorter again than Rachael. Perfect size to cuddle of course. All of the outfit was the same colour scheme, black with generous red highlights, complementary to her hair colour, and fitting in perfectly with Rachael’s own outfit that was black and green with gold highlights. A matching pair. Going back to Rachael, she blushed a little as she did a slow twirl for her. These clothes brought back additional memories as well. They were of the exact same cut as the ones that Rachael had been wearing that fateful day back at the flat.

“They look good on you.” Rachael’s smile was soft and warm. Inviting.

Crystal moved right up against her lover. Rachael pulled her into another hug, Crystal snuggling happily into her. No additional words were necessary.

It did mean that it would be Rachael’s turn next though.

‘Perhaps not.’ Her cat-fox informed her, looking up at her. ‘It seems that we have company.’

Crystal sighed as she pulled back from Rachael, the two of them making their way up to Clocky and Fairweather.

“Four riders, according to Hope,” Fairweather said once they reached her, Spectre confirming that to Crystal. “Quite high up, trying to stay out of sight. They’ve circled past a couple of times, but they appear to be heading in our direction now.”

“We need to head to the shore,” Clocky added. “We don’t want them to intercept us over the ocean. It would get... complicated.”

“Are they hostile?” Crystal asked. She didn’t really want to have to think of any riders in that way, because of their dragons, but people were still people, and they had factions and alliances just like everyone else. There would be those friendly to them, and those that weren’t. It was going to make things complicated, and all they wanted to do was explore. Sightsee. “Surely they’re from Avaraline?”

“Even if the queen is aware of our presence, I’m not sure if the kingdom’s clan is, nor if their riders also know. I would assume that all they see is some alien vessel making it’s way across the ocean, and given the events of late...” Clocky left the last part hanging in the air.

Clocky did have a point, of which Crystal was more than aware. She could still hope though.

“Not to mention that it’s probably unusual for riders to be out this far,” Rachael mused. “We really don’t know anything at all about how the kingdoms in this age work either. Especially for borders.”

“I guess we’re going to find out soon then,” Crystal sighed.

“Can we outrun them?” Rachael asked.

“No,” Clocky stated matter of factly, his eyes glowing again. “They’ll catch us up eventually. It’s just a matter of where.”

“We haven’t tried full output for the engines yet though,” Fairweather said, glancing over her shoulder at them, “as we can’t get them to that point ourselves. If you don’t mind.”

“Sure.” Crystal nodded. It was as good an option as any, and they needed their location to be favourable to them if they were going to be engaged by the riders. Clocky was right about the sea not being the best place. She had no desire to go for a swim. Crystal laid a hand on the pilot’s chair, Rachael doing the same. Clocky and Fairweather had had a lot more practice at this than they had, Clocky’s gauntlet even helping him with control of flow. Crystal knew she had to be careful to not let out too much mana or do it too quickly, circuitry more delicate than arrays, but she really had no idea of how to gauge it. They could but try. Rachael gave her a reassuring smile, and they both released some mana at the same time.

Crystal felt the skimmer readily grab onto the mana, absorbing it into the engine, the craft jerking at it suddenly accelerated. She tried keeping the flow constant as she looked towards Fairweather.

“We’re as close to max as I’d dare go now. Thanks,” Fairweather stated after a few moments, as she dropped the skimmer down lower to the ocean, the waves uncomfortably close as they raced along towards land.

‘They’ve noticed that we’ve noticed them. They’re descending and speeding up as well.’

It was rather nerve racking. There was nothing that they could do right now, except continue to channel mana and watch the waves rush past, mentally trying to map it all as the arkchildren gave them updates on exactly how far away they were, and how fast they were gaining. Not that she was as worried about the chase compared to what would happen when the riders finally caught up. Mind you, it was probably worse for Clocky, as he didn’t have the live feed, but on the other hand, he did have his ability.

“Are we going to be able to outmanoeuvre them once they catch up?” Rachael asked.

“No.” Fairweather shook her head. “This isn’t a very agile craft. Not designed that way. Hope says that from what we’ve seen from Ashling and Light, dragons are far superior in that area.”

As inconvenient as that was currently, Crystal was rather happy about that piece of information. It wasn’t really surprising either, and she would have assumed as much herself.

The riders were uncomfortably close by the time that the shore was in sight, crystal blue water lapping up on golden beaches that stretched out far in both directions, sand dunes cresting up behind them before it then appeared to merge into a rather dense and green forest, the trees towering over the land and casting long shadows. Even from this distance there was something about the forest that seemed to say ‘go away, you’re not welcome here’. Fairweather kept the skimmer low, the skimmer tearing across the water, and then onto the beach, sand being thrown up around them.

‘The Weeping Forest.’

They’d been over the forest last time they were here, when they had made the crossing with Myne, riding Ashling. But they must be at a different section of it, as last time there had been sheer cliffs where the forest had met the sea. And it hadn’t quite looked as foreboding as it did right now.

“Here goes nothing,” Fairweather declared tensely as the skimmer quickly started to rise, shooting over the dunes and towards the trees.

‘They’re not going to let us!’

“Slow down!” Clocky shouted suddenly at the same time as Spectre spoke. “And brace!”

Crystal stopped feeding the skimmer her mana, and held on tighter to the pilot seat, the lights flickering and its speed drastically dropping as it suddenly lost a portion of it’s power, Hope likely re-routing what was going where. Two of the dragons shot past them along the beach, quickly slowing and banking around. One an aquamarine colour, Crystal pretty sure that it was smaller than Ueana’s familiar, the other an obsidian black, the latter a bit larger than Ueana’s. Well, from what she recalled at least. Even the smaller of the two was larger than the skimmer though. A third flew into view, emerald green, similar in size to the aquamarine one, when a loud bang echoed around them, the skimmer shuddering as the impact from whatever had just slammed into the roof of the craft sent them plummeting towards the ground.

They’d barely had the skimmer for a day.

The skimmer ploughed into the sand, Crystal and Rachael both being thrown into the walls of the craft despite their best efforts, something underneath her giving way as her reinforced body impacted the side of the skimmer.

“Really. Really!” Crystal growled as she picked herself up. Sand was half way up the front and front side windows, the entire craft on a forward lean. All of the panels were blank, neither Clocky or Fairweather at the pilot’s seat any longer.

‘A quick diagnostic scan reveals only superficial damage to the skimmer.’

That was something at least. But still.

‘Perhaps you should have asked for a modified spider as well.’

‘You’d be jealous then,’ Crystal teased back to her arkchild, her mood lightened. And she was going to get to see some more dragons sooner than expected as well, which was a plus. Though it would have been much better if they hadn’t forced them to crash.

“Let’s go see the welcoming committee then,” Rachael stated grumpily as she shifted over to the side hatch, the door sliding open with a hiss as she released the lock. And then cursed as a wave of sand flowed into the skimmer. Obviously there were had still been travelling rather fast when they’d hit the beach.

At least it was warm outside, the late afternoon sun still providing ample heat, the beach even more picturesque once they were standing on it. The smell of salt was strong in the air, tinged with the smell of tree sap and damp leaves from the forest at the beaches end. They’d ploughed into one of the dunes near its crest, the forest less than twenty meters away.

It was easy to see why. Perched on the back of the skimmer, the same size as the obsidian dragon, was an ash orange dragon, its form more than enough to swamp the craft if it had laid over it. Its front talons were griping the side of the skimmer, while it’s body was leaning against it. There was no way they would have been able to fly with it positioned like that. The rest of the dragons landed near the front of the skimmer while Clocky and Fairweather pulled themselves out, the size difference even more prominent once they were at the same height. The obsidian one and the ash orange one were definitely larger than Callisto, while the aquamarine and emerald ones were quite a bit smaller. All of the dragons had their eyes on them, staring at them with curiosity. Crystal was pretty sure that they could tell something of her and Rachael’s nature, just like the ones at the delegation had.

There seemed to be some sadness to the dragons, as they looked at her. It was a strange sensation, a knowing prickling at the back of her mind, knowledge of her kin wanting to rise to the surface but uncertain if it was the right time yet. It was like they felt they were incomplete, lacking something that they saw in her and Rachael. But she wasn’t sure what, nor how she’d even help, and that hurt.

The dragons were all beautiful creatures though, Crystal unashamedly staring back at them as she tried to dig deeper into the awareness. They were quite a bit different from the ones of the delegation and even Ashling and Light, and there had already been a lot of variation amongst all of those ones too. Colour, size, shape, scaling, even the position of the wings. These ones were a lot bulkier than Callisto, but less so than Bonebreaker. Was there a regional difference to them she wondered, or did you find all types everywhere, more a feature of the aspect of the riders magic than where they were from. For that matter, she wasn’t even sure if there was regional differences to the people as well.

“Why have you attacked us?” Rachael questioned as she turned to the rider of the ash orange dragon, arms folded against her chest as she stood there confidently. If she was feeling the same thing as Crystal, she was masking it well.

The rider of the ash orange dragon remained on her familiar and just stared down at them. Her ash coloured bone armour seemed to be similar to the norm that Crystal had seen for riders, only covering her chest, shoulders and lower legs, the rest covered by skeon. It was also rather plain, functional, but that was it. Her long blond hair was tied up in a braid with a rose coloured ribbon at the end, sitting over her left front shoulder.

“Who are you,” she eventually demanded.

“Travellers, en route to see your queen,” Rachael replied evenly. They hadn’t actually said or planned to do so, but it had crossed their minds. “Though that is going to be somewhat more difficult now.”

“You fled and ignored our presence,” the rider retorted. “People do not flee riders.”

“You were going to do exactly the same to us above the water,” Clocky stated matter of factly, his tone leaving no room for argument.

“I...” The rider looked like she was going to argue otherwise, but then thought the better of it. “That is irrelevant. You fled, we stopped you.”

“Under what right?” Rachael demanded.

“The right of the clan.”

Crystal growled under her breath. She was not liking this rider at all. The mana intensity around them suddenly fluctuated, something that she hadn’t had happen before outside of a leyline, Crystal feeling her wings manifest as she saw Rachael’s do likewise. They both dismissed them as quickly as they could, but the sudden surge of emotions across the riders face told Crystal that she hadn’t missed it.

“Demon spawn,” the rider spat, her voiced laced with bitterness and venom. “Give me a good reason not to kill you all here right now.”

“We are not demon spawn,” Crystal snapped. “We are deep dragons.” This was part of the reason they had decided to not have their wings and tails manifest if at all possible, even if they liked having them out. They had learnt from their previous visit that wings were not common at all, especially ones formed from magic, and they had no idea how those they ran across would react to them. Badly it seemed.

“As I said before, we are here to see the queen. Queen Alysia.” Rachael repeated calmly.

“No,” the rider sneered. “We will not allow any demons near the queen. Take them out,” she then ordered her familiar.

The ash orange dragon seemed to hesitate before it released its grip on the skimmer, the screech of metal worrying. Beating its wings, the dragon blew sand all around them, Crystal both partially closing her eyes and bringing her arm to cover her face, and then leapt backwards away from the lunging dragon as the others did the same.

“No!” Crystal roared. She did not want to fight a dragon. Would not. Nor a rider if she could avoid it. Even if she was a paladin of Warrior, the rider an ass, and she could feel the urge to fight boiling strongly within her. Sparring of course was different, but that wasn’t the current situation.

as you wish,

guardian of dragons.

Warrior sounded amused, something about what she’d just said resonating strongly with Crystal. The familiar stopped abruptly, the storm of sand ceasing, its black eyes looking at her with worry. In fact all of the dragons were staring directly at her again.

“What the #$%@ are you doing Ezizer!” The rider glared at her dragon, annoyance on her face. Ezizer growled back, but remained stationary.

“We are not here for a fight,” Rachael said again.

“Then surrender,” the rider from the obsidian dragon stated as she jumped off her familiar, landing in a crouch but quickly rising. She was tall, towering over them, at least a head above Rachael. Long black hair flowed down her back, her cold blue eyes appraising them. Glassy black dragon bone covered her shoulders and formed a breast plate, lower arm bracers, and boots, chaotic patterns etched deep into the surface. The skeon that covered her body did nothing to hide her very muscular frame. Dark aspect magic flowed around her, not dissimilar to Myne’s but far weaker, and lacking the rather distinctive hellfire tinge.

“Torie!” The rider of the ash orange dragon familiar glared at the obsidian rider.

“This is getting us nowhere Nisha. We know nothing these people, except that they have a strange flying machine, and that one,” Torie said as she pointed at Crystal, “can roar. A roar that our familiars understood.”

“If they even are people,” Nisha retorted.

“And they may well be telling the truth about wanting to see the queen.” Torie continued.

“Nothing good has ever come from the storms,” Nisha sneered as she leapt down from her familiar, her landing much more graceful. “You should know that well enough.”

“Yet I don’t let it cloud my judgement.”

“If that is what it’ll take for you to stop this insanity,” Clocky interrupted, “then yes, we surrender. But, you’ll be responsible for escorting us to the capital.”

Nisha glared at them. “And if I’d rather just kill you all right here?” A rather wicked looking chain sword materialized in her hand as she took a step towards them. And then stopped, startled, as her familiar growled at her.

“What the...?” Nisha shook her head, confused, before she turned at stared at her familiar, her weapon disappearing again. “Fine, we’ll escort you back to the capital. I hope that bucket of yours can still fly, as we won’t be carrying you.”

“If you’ve broken it on us, then I guess we’ll all be walking,” Clocky replied dryly.

“See, that wasn’t so hard.” Torie shook her head, before looking at the aquamarine dragon’s rider. “Nya, can you get a message to the queen about what’s happened here. One of the lady knight’s should be able to get you to see her.”

“Aye,” the rider nodded, a small girl whose blue tinged armour appeared to cover most of her body, blond hair tied up in a pair ponytails. Her familiar lifted itself into the air, blowing sand all over them, and more into the skimmer, before it shot off over the forest.

Torie turned back to them. “We seem to have had a messy start. My name, as you’ve probably gathered is Torie, of Clan Daybreak. Sourpuss over there is Nisha, and our sister with the vibrant green hair is Leah.”

Crystal looked up at the final rider. Her short hair was indeed a vibrant forest green, her armour black with green aspects that covered most of her body. She also wore a deep green cloak, the first rider that she had ever seen doing so. Not that Crystal’s sample pool was that large. Her face was a bit red in the cheeks as she looked back at them.

“Crystal,” Crystal replied. “My soulmate Rachael,” she then introduced, “Clocky, and his partner Fairweather.”

Torie nodded. “I will make one amendment, assuming that your craft does still function. Two of you will have to ride with us, hands bound, as insurance that none of you try anything silly.”

“Okay,” Crystal replied a little too quickly, trying not to smile. She couldn’t really see a downside to that at all. Okay, maybe the whole hands bound thing, but unless they had something that could resist magic she doubted that it would actually restrain her for long. As to the source of that confidence, that was actually a very good question. It was not a situation that she’d had to deal with yet.

Torie gave her a wary look.

Rachael chuckled. “That’s fine. We’ll ride with you, though both of us together.”