Chapter 104 – Instinctual Intentions
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Chapter 104 – Instinctual Intentions.

It was almost eerily familiar. A group of riders swooping in on them, the intent pretty clear. Land, or be forced to do so.

Though, that was about where the similarities ended. They’d been inside the Sheltered Domain for three days now, this group the first riders that they had seen, where as for Avaraline they’d been harassed before they had even hit the shore. Nor did Clocky look particularly concerned, his magic not giving him any dire warnings. Instead he was standing there with Fairweather, discussing options for the best place to land in the snow. Snow that could be hiding anything underneath. Not that that was much of an issue to be honest. The skimmer had scanners, and they had three arkchildren on board as well. If something nasty was lurking beneath, they’d know about it quick enough.

They had known about them before they’d come into sight of course. Spectre had picked up on them, letting her know that company was due. Something that Crystal has also sensed as well. There was no point in landing early however, especially if their intent wasn’t fully known, and this time they also had Tayja with them, the lady knight flying just behind them, switching to above as the other riders had approached. There was one slight complication with the current arrangement though. They couldn’t actually communicate with her when she was riding Nerida and the remainder of them were in the skimmer. Crystal would have loved to have been riding the dragon with her, but, yeah, not the best idea at the moment for a number of reasons.

Yes, there was a dragon that she could ride, but that was completely different! Crystal found herself blushing at that thought, trying to banish it away. Completely the wrong time for that.

Snow billowed around them as the skimmer settled in the snow, Tayja landing beside them, the other riders landing in front. Crystal waited until the snow had settled a bit before pressing the release button, the door sliding open with a hiss and the cold air hitting her like a wave. There was no way that she would ever live here. The climate was not to her liking at all. Letting her wings and tail materialise, and pulling some of her magic to her to help keep her warm, she stepped out, the snow crunching under her feet as she walked her way to the front, Rachael right beside her, having also done the same.

Crystal knew straight away who the lead rider was. Lithe figure, platinum blonde hair with streaks of silver, grey dragon bone armour with specks of silver and rainbow hues. Lady Knight Starlight, from the delegation. Her dragon was just as beautiful as she remembered it, silver, reflecting the nature of her rider, and looking curiously at them. With desire and longing.

“Crystal and Rachael,” Lady Knight Starlight said, looking them over. “I should have guessed, given the presence of the flying machine. More technology of Odinsphere I assume?”

“Yes, and it’s nice to see you again too, Starlight,” Rachael replied.

Starlight furrowed her brows as she looked at the rest of their group, and then back at them with some intensity. “You have different companions with you this time. Curious ones, but in comparison to you two...” The lady knight trailed off, thoughtful for a moment. “You two have changed. You’re not the same as when I last saw you, and it really wasn’t that long ago. And that’s ignoring your draconic features, that are more vibrant and real than they were then. You feel... you feel just like them, like the forces that we sensed back then, and again at the pulse. Like what you said were called the ancients. You were there, weren’t you, at the centre of it, of the pulse?”

“Yes, that we were,” Rachael confirmed, wings stretching out then folding back against her wings.

“And just like them, your companions here, they all bear your mark. What are you, really?”

“Deep Dragons,” Rachael answered. That is what they were. That hadn’t changed.

“Though as to what being a deep dragon actually entails, well, that is a different question, and one that I don’t think anyone actually knows,” Clocky added from behind them, amusement to his voice. “Not even the ancients themselves I suspect.”

“Clocky,” Crystal moaned, looking back at him. His eyes were glowing, his magic active. There would be a reason that he had said that. It was true though, and could equally apply to all of the other races, his lover included.

A soft coo broke through the air, Starlight’s familiar Kat leaning down and nuzzling the lady knight. Crystal could feel it. Deeply. The desire. The need. And that the dragon was aware of it all, even if they hadn’t declared it, like they had in Avaraline. The magic welled up in her, unbidden, reacting, the air shimmering in front of her as Promise materialised, her coo echoing around them in reply to Kat.

“Promise!” Crystal cried out, trying to catch the small dragon. A futile attempt, given that it was a creature of magic, literally. A creature of magic that was also as very much alive and a soul in its own right just like everything else around them.

Promise cooed again, and then beat her wings, flying up and around them, and then roared, a rather adorable noise given her size. The message though was clear.

“Promise!” She tried again. “There is such a thing as timing.” The little dragon looked down at her with its big eyes. Filled with desire and intention. Promise wanted to do this, and she knew that deep down, Crystal wanted to do this as well.

“What the #$#% is going on?” one of the other riders shouted, weapons materialising in the hands of two of the riders as they took a step forward.

“Don’t,” Rachael commanded, almost a roar, power radiating from her and causing the two riders to step back in shock. “Interfere, and I will retaliate.”

Promise cooed again, flying over to Starlight, nuzzling her as the lady knight reached her hands up to it, looking at it curiously. And then up, to Kat, Promise nuzzling the familiar affectionately. Kat cooed back, returning the gesture. Then Promise flew back up into the air, hovering above them, her body starting to glow.

Except there wasn’t enough ambient mana. Creature or not, the array still required a lot of power, and they weren’t near a nexus like they had been in the capital. Not to mention that the natural levels were a lot lower.

“Like that has ever been an issue,” Rachael said, rolling her eyes. Arrays were already spreading out around her, an ambient glow around Rachael’s body, her horns blazing with power. “And not like we’re going to be able to stop it now either. It is your magic after all.”

Promise beat his wings. One.

Crystal closed her eyes, shutting out all distractions as she formed the arrays as well, spreading out from her and covering who knows how much space. Hers were not as compact as Rachael’s. But by themselves they would not be good enough. They controlled and shifted leylines. But she needed said leylines first.

Leylines were part of Dawn’s domain though. And they were her champions. She could sense them, where they were in relation to them. Crystal added another array to the mix, the magic stretching out, racing across and through the land, grabbing ahold of the power of the closest ones, and yanking it back.

Two.

But this was also the Innerlands. There was magic everywhere, the land saturated with it. Mana that she could tap into. Another array added to the mix, tweaked as it spread out from her, tendrils reaching out like a net, gathering a portion, and bringing it back to them. She could feel it, the magic flooding in, slamming into them like a wave.

Crystal opened her eyes. The riders were looking afraid. The entirety of the ground around them, and stretching far away, was completely covered in brightly glowing arrays. The air shimmered with power, and her horns were probably blazing just as brightly as Rachael’s.

She looked at them, forming another small array, to make sure that they heard her. “I’m sorry, but please please please, for the love of all things, please listen to your familiars, and just say yes.”

Three.

Magic pulsed out from Promise, flowing through the riders and then beyond. Crystal breathed out, and then released the arrays, the glow quickly fading as they vanished from around them.

Starlight stared at them as Kat raised her head and roared. A happy one. A declaration to those around, any that could hear. “I think, you lot, are going to need to come with us.”

“Please,” she then added.


The trip to the complex was completely uneventful. The riders had all mounted their dragons and then flown off ahead of them as they quickly boarded the skimmer and then followed behind, Tayja flying alongside them.

Crystal felt somewhat uneasy about the whole thing. It wasn’t how she’d wanted it to go. Yes, the familiars had been eager, especially Kat, who seemed to be more intelligent than a lot of the other familiars that she had met, but the riders had been mostly unaware. And with the display of magic and power that had taken place, it’d be enough to put anyone on edge. Maybe even terrify them. She wasn’t completely sure, as her frame of reference there was off, with what they had all been through. None of the riders had said anything more at all. She knew that the magic had affected all of them, but she also had no idea if any of them had accepted the gift. They’d bear their mark now, either way, and Lady Knight Starlight seemed to be rather perceptive.

Irrespective, it left them in a somewhat messy situation. Yes, they could have easily refused to go along, but there would have been no point in that. They needed to talk to Starlight, and they needed her cooperation.

“What’s done is done,” Rachael said, holding her close. She didn’t seem to be worried at all. “We knew that it was going to happen one way or the other, especially since you did make Promise, well, Promise.”

Promise gave a happy squeal, sitting beside Spectre and Kitsune, trying to copy their posture, before deciding that she would rather just run around them. She was a bundle of energy, and it was kind of endearing. And strange at the same time as well. But she hadn’t gone back to her resting place within her, wanting to stay out instead. Probably because she knew what lay ahead of them.

“If anything, they’re probably just in a state of shock at the moment,” Clocky chimed in. “What we’ve grown accustomed to as normal, it really is anything but.”

“Not to mention that your magic flowed through them,” Fairweather added. She was resting beside Clocky, Hope solely in charge of the skimmer’s flight at the moment. “Even if it wasn’t as dense as it was for the inauguration, you managed to pull a lot of mana to us.”

It would probably take a bit for it to all flow back to normal as well. They had been a bit rough with how they’d gone about it, but they’d been pressed for time.

Crystal sighed, sinking into Rachael. “It just makes things more complicated.”

Rachael chuckled at that. “Yes, yes it does. But you do know, that is the norm for us now, it seems.”

In a strange way, the temple complex of the Sisters of the Cleansing Frost fit her image of them. Almost like a castle that could have been created by an ice princess. But that was where the similarities ended as well. It was still definitely the home of the clan, the presence of dragons clear. The riders landed in a rather large courtyard in the middle of the complex, the skimmer gently landing to one edge, Nerida beside them. A number of other people surged out from between the buildings, straight into conversation with the lady knight. Or tried to at least, Starlight appearing to just brush them off.

“Promise,” Crystal stated, looking hard at the little dragon. “No surprises this time.” Promise gave her an innocent look, and then flew up to her shoulder, perching there.

It wasn’t any warmer in the complex, the chill of the day clinging to everything as they made their way over to Starlight. There looked to be another half a dozen riders present, as well as a number of others. Those who worked for the clan Crystal assumed, and they had all of their attention.

“Kat!” Starlight grizzled in exasperation at her familiar as they reached her, the familiar looking back down at the lady knight with a determined expression. Then the dragon lifted up its head and roared, the sound echoing through the buildings, and resounding back as other familiars replied. A familiar message.

“It wasn’t me this time,” Rachel observed with amusement.

“Is this what it means, to bear your mark?” Starlight asked as she turned to them, looking a bit frustrated.

“Being able to talk to your familiar? Yes, it is intertwined with it.” Rachael answered, folding her arms. “Though it isn’t just riders who bear it, as you yourself observed.”

“It’s a gift, a blessing,” Tayja said, stepping up beside them, cloak wrapped tightly around her. “Almost all of Clan Daybreak can do so now.”

Starlight just stared at Tayja for a few moments. “That sounds like something that Alysia would do. She’s not stupid, she’s more than aware. And it’s no secret that she is the one in control of your clan.”

“Yes, that she is,” Tayja admitted.

“She’s right though, and it’s not that I was unaware. Asher did mention it, even if I didn’t fully believe it.”

“Did you all accept?” Crystal asked timidly. She felt a little out of place at the moment.

“That is a rather personal question, and given that it was your magic, I’m surprised that you can’t tell. I can’t answer for the other four, that is theirs to reveal if they wish, but yes, I accepted the offer. Kat was rather insistent about it.” Starlight then sighed. “I was hoping to talk to you all in private, but Kat is refusing to let me do so. Forcing my hand, since I apparently have failed on something else. The heightened awareness, the ability to clearly communicate, it’s a double edged sword.”

“They desire it. They deserve it! You all do!” Crystal almost shouted that. She knew the feelings of the familiars, could sense them clearly. Even now, even here. That too, was double edged.

Kat moved forward, Starlight stepping out of the way in surprise, till her shadow fell across them. Roaring, loud and clear, she then sat, bringing her head down to Crystal, and nuzzling her affectionately. Crystal leant in, her head against the dragon’s, arms around her, and gave a soft roar back. Kat was warm, her scales smooth and beautiful. This familiar was special, more so than any of the others. She had always been more aware, and held a very close bond with her rider. “I know, I can feel it too,” Crystal murmured, emotions raging through her.

Stretching back up, and giving another roar, Kat made her way back to beside her rider. More people had arrived, and they were all staring at them. More riders, and more staff, and a couple more familiars as well.

There was no way that you were going to escape this happening. Once touched...’ Yes, very helpful Spectre.

“Starlight, what is going on?” Another rider, one that carried an air of superiority. She was tall, mostly covered by her bone armour, a wicked looking war-hammer held tightly in her hand.

“Crystal, do the familiars have to be beside their riders?” Starlight asked her, ignoring the rider.

She knew what Starlight was asking about. Crystal thought back to the arrays, and the magic that she weaved, and then a quick thought off to Spectre to check her estimation. “No, as long as they’re roughly within the boundary of the complex.” Further would actually work, but underestimating was not a bad thing, and it was dependant on how much mana they pulled.

“You’ll cast it again?”

Crystal nodded. “Yes.” Promise gave a happy roar, and launched herself into the air, flying over to Kat and then swooping around.

“Then I want all riders in the complex here asap,” she stated, looking at some of her staff. Kat let off another roar, replies echoing back.

“Starlight,” the hammer rider growled, eyeing Promise suspiciously.

“Relax Donna,” Starlight said as she put a hand on the rider’s shoulder. “You might recall me mentioning a pair of girls, deep dragons, from my last trip. Well, meet Crystal and Rachael, said deep dragons, and probably much more than that too. Except, that things have gotten a lot more complicated, and I’m not going to go over it multiple times. And I have no idea how the hell I’m going to convince everyone of it either.”

Donna eyed them suspiciously. “I’m sorry, why are they even here? And what is that? And what?”

“We’re here to talk to Starlight,” Crystal answered. “We’re trying to find Ueana.”

“Who?”

“A member of the demon hunters.” There was sadness on Starlight’s face. “You’ll want to talk to Kyril. She was who they were looking for when they came through. She’ll be here shortly.”

Starlight looked up at her familiar as more people started coming through, riders, confused as they gathered around Starlight and Donna. “This is on you as well,” she said to Kat. “You had better help out.”

Kat held up her head, and roared. A declaration.

Sometimes things don't go as planned ^^

The next chapter (106 - Searching Deeper) will be out mid next week as per the usual schedule.

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