She could feel it. It was almost done, whatever it was.

Ever since Audur had given her the blindfold and the necklace, things had changed. At first it was all very blurry, but after stumbling her way to the courtyard, and dancing under the storm it grew sharper. Mana sight Audur called it. She knew of mana sight of course, but only in the context of archmages or elven born sorcerers.

Without her mundane sight, her mana sight had taken its place. Over the course of 2 years, by her estimation, the sight grew from blurry, to the same she could see with her eyes. The only difference was the fact that she could see a perfect 360 degrees around her. But it only grew from there. At first it was just a feeling, but slowly she started to feel the air around her as if it was part of her body. Only slight sensations at first, the amphithere flapping her wings, the wind itself, the falling rain, or even the static before a lightning bolt struck. 

Those sensations only grew sharper over time. It had taken another 2 years for her to feel every single falling raindrop, every slight current of wind and finally to predict the exact moment of a lightning strike.

As if crossing some invisible threshold, she could now feel Audur themselves. Through the scale on her chest, she could feel their mana. The ungodly quantities somehow hidden before, where now laid bare. Audur mana was something else entirely. It didn't feel like the wind, rain or lightning. It felt like all of those things, and somehow more.

And that incredible amount of mana, was slowly, continuously flowing through the scale, into her chest. A large part of the mana slowly left her body and diffused into the surrounding mana, yet it always reverted back to its based three aspects.

One of the first things she sensed was her body. The moment she understood the sense, she scoured every corner of her body. The air aspect mana in her lungs, the water mana in her blood, and the not insignificant amount of lightning mana in her head, growing through her body. And the clump of mana in her chest. At first it had been a mixture of all 3 aspects, and a bunch of uncolored mana. Yet over the last 6 years the mana in her chest had slowly taken on the same aspect that audurs mana had.

She recently noticed that it was slowly building up something in her chest. What, or to what end, she could not say, but she wasn't going to question audur. They had been her only proper conversation partner. The amphitere didn't count. And the fact that over time, Aliyah had grown quite cautious of audur. The amount of power they were constantly channeling through her could easily kill her with just an errand thought, so she decided to never displeased the being.

So to continue pleasing audur, she had begun learning "the tongue" from the snake. At first she had trouble pronouncing the words, yet every time she had tried, the clump of mana in her chest pulses with mana and slowly started to change her body. The first thing she noticed was that her tongue seemed to grow in length quite significantly. Yet with every repeat session of her language study, her body continued to change. At first it was only her tongue growing longer, then it started to split at the tip. Now she could reasonably reach her hairline with her tongue, and both of the split ends could move independently of eachother. The next change came in the form of her throat. She couldn't tell what exactly had changed, yet the pronunciation of the strange language got easier after the changes settled. The last changes, as far as she could tell, where her teeth. They had simply become sharper. Her canines had grown a bit in length, and even her incisors had grown incredibly pointy.

All in all, Aliyah was pretty sure she was learning draconic. It could be some obscure snake language, but the pride the amphitere showed whenever she talked about her "blood" seemed pretty draconic. She wasn't even sure why Audur had her learn draconic, but most noblewomen spoke multiple languages, so she wasn't about to complain about learning another.

And, draconic would be useful, for when she began visiting the surrounding dragonmen tribes. Audur had told her to visit one of them on the day of her awakening, so she could start socializing again.

Dragonmen was a very broad term describing any and all humanoids with draconic ancestry, and apparently a tribe of dragonmen was living on this very mountain.

Now that her sixteenth birthday was approaching, she had to start making preparations for her awakening ceremony. In the night she was to awaken, she was to head to the dragonmen village, and take part in their ceremony.

So currently she was in the bathroom, figuring out how she was supposed to wear her garments. Over the last 8 years she had worn the same grey toga every day. And ever since Audur had sealed her sight, she did not care much about dressing properly. She used the toga mostly to cover her bottoms and walk around topless, and ever since her breast had started to grow, she bound them tight, but otherwise she, walked around almost entirely uncovered. That would not be proper, she would have to figure something out.

It happened once every year, and finally it was her turn. She had watched every year, as long as she could remember, as the newly made warriors awakened together. Then they would fight each other and determine the ranking they held in the tribe.

Oksha was equal parts exited and nervous. She had spent the last 6 years training to become a warrior, and now it was finally her year. She didn't think she would manage the top spot, but she was confident she could rank decently high. The problem was something her brother told her about. He had shown promise in the mystic arts, and had started his training to become a shaman. 

She was kind of ashamed of her brother, in part because of his weak and meek nature, in another part because he became increasingly weird and cryptic after his apprenticeship started.

Apparently the head shaman had received an Oracle from Audur themselves, and they were to prepare another spot in their awakening ceremony.

This was the cause of their nervousness. Usually Audur would keep to themselves, and maybe grant them some respite from the storm, if they asked enough. This was the first time in millennia that Audur had told them such a direct message, and so the tribe was in an uproar.

Oksha checked herself again. The scales along her arms and legs were polished and waxed, letting the subtle red colour shine through. The piercings in her ears nose and lips were all in place. She took out the ceremonial ones, made from real dragonbone. Her chest and hips were covered in the fur of some small predators she had hunted herself, and her black hair was adorned with the feathers of a young storm eagle she had managed to strike. Everything was perfect.

She exited the tent she was living in, and joined the celebrating tribespeople outside.

The atmosphere was equally jovial and tense. All around the area different kinds of dragonpeople were celebrating. From Proper dragonkin to lizardmen all the way to the smaller kobolds. Everyone was sitting together, and celebrating the maturity of a new generation of warriors and hunters for the tribe.

People were sitting in mixed groups playing all kinds of music and sharing food and drink. The atmosphere was very relaxed. 

In contrast, the congregation of shamans in the central area of the tribe, seemed to be extremely nervous.

Oksha decided not to worry about it, and joined the festivities.

Night had begun to fall when the changes started happening. The constant stormclouds which covered the sky seemed to calm down, and the ever present winds stilled.

The shamans who were until now hard at work to prepare the ceremony, stilled and looked towards the mountain in the distance. It was said that at the top of the mountain Audits true body was laid to rest in a temple. No one knew the truth, as the peak of the mountain was completely inaccessible. Even the strongest of the tribes warriors were turned away by the brutal winds, which raged around the peak.

Now, descending from that very peak, was a lonely humanoid form. It moved along the stony mountain slope, straight towards the tribe.

The elders and the shamans gathered together, presumably to welcome their guest, and started talking in hushed tones.

The nervous anticipation crept through the village, until the entire town knew their guest was coming.

As the figure grew closer something unexpected happened. The usual wild winds of the stormlands quieted down, until the area was bathed in silence. The only sounds Audible were the breathing of the villagers and the rustling of clothing as people shuffled around.

After 5 minutes of awkward silence, the figure was at last visible.

Oksha was equal parts exited and intimidated. At 180cm she was quite tall for the women of her village, and most of them usually went into the path of the hunter. This woman just oozed restrained violence. She was almost two meters tall and walked in an uncannily predatory manner. She was incredibly built. Her bicep was almost as thick as okshas thighs. Every muscle group was incredibly defined, her entire body was unmistakably that of a warriors.

In her right hand she held a straight piece of wood, as tall as herself. And curiously her eyes were covered with a black piece of cloth.

As she came towards the gathered villagers, everyone quieted down and stared at her.

She only seemed to notice the gathered villagers as soon as she came into 10 meters of them.

As she stood before the villagers, she inclined her head and spoke in the most powerful draconic oksha had ever heard. As the word rang out, the wind blew away from her and over the gathered people, as if nature itself was reacting to her presence.

"Greetings"