On The Wings Of Life, By the Hands of Hope

[Cosmos]

There is no creature more ancient nor majestic than the mighty dragon. These powerful serpents have embedded themselves in legends dating from before the beginning of time, and many areas past the Border regard them as divine creatures. Even in the cities, they earned themselves a degree of respect in the form of murals and statues. They were also quite resilient, developing adaptations to any sort of climate or living situation, making them wide-spread across the entire continent of Atrum, and they, for the most part, live undisturbed.

Sigurd, however... was different. It was a kingdom of tradition, and many a young knight made an attempt at earning a name for his or her self by pursuing any great wyrm they could find. Some dragons retaliated brutally, others were apathetic, and some simply wanted to be friends with the Sigurdian knights, either out of genuine friendliness or a desire to see the end of all this nonsense.

Aegir, in particular, was not interested in making enemies. Though he was a black dragon, often considered to be the most evil and dangerous, he was rather small, only fifteen feet from nose to tail and seven at the shoulder. His underscales and wing membrane were a metallic silver and his eyes a rich gold. His scales were quite rough and sharp in areas and his hide impenetrable by arrows or swords, leading to many calling him "Aegis" instead. Two pairs of horns jutted out from the back of his head, and a ridge of spikes ran down his back to his tail, that he could use as a spike flail.

Despite his monstrous appearance, he was not a brutal creature by any means, but he had a great deal of trouble trying to convince the Sigurdians that he was indeed not a threat. He rather liked the kingdom, in fact; there was no greater nobility to him than the bravery of an armored knight. But it was due to these types that he could hardly catch a break. He spoke a perfect common tongue, though so far it only served to give away his name to the entire kingdom and for him to be deemed crazy.

Tonight was a quiet, clear night, and, taking advantage of this, Aegir the black dragon slept beneath the starlight in the shadow of a great kingdom. Perhaps this time he would remain solitary long enough to be rested.

[Kaidona]

“…Moerdodernemig, we… may have made a wrong turn somewhere.” It was a soft rasp, sitting somewhere in the baritone octave, underneath which a light crackle sounded, and a thin spark, pale blue in the darkness, flickered around what appeared to be the form of a thin fellow themed in darks.

Dark slate eyes, reminiscent of those of a bird of prey, glinted in the cover of night as they turned towards the entity, ill amused at best. “Axis, you had best be joking,” a woman’s voice warned in low-toned reply.

The air recoiled, as though in a cringe. “Nnno… unfortunately I’m not.”

“What happened to learning from the surface thoughts of others?”

“…We weren’t around enough travellers thinking about where they were going and how they were getting there?”

Those sharp avian eyes flattened considerably.

“Okay, so I admittedly developed a habit of tuning people’s minds out after the last couple times I was out in huge cities.”

A heaving sigh, weighted with exhaustion, made the night air shudder slightly. “Fine. Then we’ll sit and rest for the night.” The soft ‘shuff’ of one’s feet became the only sound to rise from where the two voices had originated, moving cautiously across the open, as though in search of anything large and solid, be it rock or tree, by which to settle. Eventually finding such a thing (the touch of thin fingers confirmed its rigidity), the shuffling of feet changed to the shifting of loose garments, and soon a gaunt individual, concealed by the night and the sizable silhouette behind it, had leaned back, sinking down in a weary slouch.

[Cosmos]

The dragon slept light, being accustomed to being jarred from his rest on occasion, and he was easily put on alert by the voices that drew nearer. There was no distinct clanking of armored plates or swords or shields amongst the vocalizations, but they very well could have been mages. Aegir laid low amongst the underbrush, blending in quite well with the darkness of the night, and quietly watched as a pair of figures settled only a few trees away.

Though not in hostility, the young wyrm growled quiet and low, growing louder as he slowly rose to his feet. His eyes managed to reflect enough gold from the moonlight to become luminous, and slowly his spiked tail waved behind him. He did not want to fight, and was simply going on instinct, but he prepared himself nonetheless due to his predatory nature.

He would, however, not move unless provoked. He was certain his rumbling growl would be more than enough to notify the two travelers of his presence.

[Chimerai]

Dark paws padded lightly along as an ever active nose moved swiftly across the ground, not currently searching for anything in particular. Or, more accurately, searching for whatever it happened to come across. There was no sense of urgency about this being's movements, and indeed he had already fed himself earlier. A few imposing barks, startling a butcher, and he had easily managed to procure a fine piece of meat for himself before swiftly disappearing into the crowd. The taste still graced his lips as he trotted along, and his tongue ran over his jaws longingly. It would be an outright lie to state that he didn't fully planning on returning for another thievery the following day.

The creature itself was lupine in nature, taking on the appearance of a rottweiler with a wolven tail. Two horns, curved around into a spiral, dismissed any notion that this was a regular hound, though a skinny frame and matted fur did suggest a stray. Almost all of the 'hell' hound's features, however, were blanketed over by the shroud of night, making the only indicator of his presence the sound of four padded feet moving along the ground, the almost inaudible whoosh of air as he sniffed the earth before him vigorously.

Feeling more fulfilled than he had in quite a while, this particular hound wished nothing more than to entertain himself on this night. It wasn't often he found himself in need of nothing, and he planned to take full advantage of this. Perhaps luck would shine upon him this night and some unsuspecting citizen had allowed a pet dog or other, similar creature to escape onto the streets. His tail began a practiced, monotonous back-and-forth motion at the idea. He wasn't hungry, that much was true, but the idea of sinking his teeth into live, easy prey always made the dog, not a competent hunter by any means, drool slightly.

Presently the scent of not a cat or lost lap dog, but something much more reptilian, reached his sensitive nose. He paused, raising his head to sniff at the wind. Definitely some form of reptile. In fact... The demon perked up suddenly as he recognized the aroma of a dragon, but lowered his ears in disappointment just as swiftly when he failed to detect the smells he had learned to associate with dragons of flame. A delicacy, if one's master chose to allow their hound a taste. Having been abandoned rather quickly, he had yet to actually taste any form of dragon meat, but he was well aware that it was considered a great honor to be able to feast upon such a dish. This only applied, so far as he had heard, to dragons of the element of fire, unfortunately, and so the creature whose scent he had discovered now would likely not be worth the effort. Regardless, though his mind told him otherwise, it was not as though he would actually be able to defeat such a beast.

It was not long, however, throughout the hound's musings, that a low growling reached his ears. His fur bristled at this, and instinctively he bared his fangs and leaped back. Ears pricked up, he began to bark at his unknown assailant, whom he could only assume was directing this hostile noise towards him, and it sounded to all the world as though someone's dog had escaped into the streets.

[Kaidona]

The air tensed abruptly, and for a moment, a stark stillness fell upon the area, until canine barking shattered the minute instant of silence. A loud crack resounded into the darkness, and a dim flash cast the silhouette of a biped whirling about towards the dragon against one of the trees, quickly fading as pale threads dispersed over the male’s form. A breath of air drew in, as though in preparation to speak, before a low grunt, bewildered, strangled the thought entirely.

Those avian eyes, alert, flickered first towards Aegir, straining intensely in the moonlight, where they quickly found focus on lucid golds, before darting blindly in search of the vocal animal. “Hold, Axis,” that deep alto bade, laced with warning. A nigh-emaciated hand had found its way to the subtly sparking man’s middle, illustrating cause for his preemptive silencing.

Gradually he slackened, another thread of dense energy arcing off his form with an ominous crackle, before he stepped back, his dark stare intent on the sizable reptile before them. “But—”

“No,” the woman swiftly interrupted, “you will wait. The last I need is you eyeballs deep in mud.”

Another breath was drawn, clearly to protest, before Axis quickly stopped himself, despite his lingering belligerence. A light tug at the back of his thoughts tried its very hardest to drag his attention away from Aegir; after much strenuous effort, it accomplished just that, and with a blink the man turned his head, peering off to meet the sizable dog loudly announcing itself in the vicinity. His stare remained for a long several breaths, piercing through the darkness, uninhibited by the perceptive disadvantage that blinded his companion. “…You feel that?” he inquired softly, intently eyeing the abnormal energy flux he could see around the canid.

“The lesser demon? Yes.” Once more, a hand found its way to the limber fellow’s gut, ostensibly holding his position, while the woman’s slate eyes drifted their way back towards what little they could see of the dragon. “But we’re going to stay here until otherwise absolutely necessary. Do you mark me, Axis?”

“…Yes, Moerdodernemig.”

“Good.”

[Cosmos]

Aegir had been outright startled by the sound of barking; it was a rare occurrance but he had been sought out by war dogs before. A moment before he had stopped his growling and peered curiously at the two appearances, tilting his head curiously as he dismissed the possibility of a threat, but now he found himself stuck between a couple of broken trees he had ran straight into by whirling around in an attempt to find the source of the new noise. He roared amongst the crack of wood, at least at first; quickly it diminished into a whimper as dragon or not, running into trees hurt.

The dragon had to jerk himself free from his shattered forest-cover, and he looked a bit disgruntled to say the least, malcontent due to the lack of protection of even trees as thick as the ones he was in. Golden eyes stared with a lowed head as he again braced himself, however his eyes were not yet fully adjusted to the dark, and all these shapes were taking a long time to stop being so blurry. Nevertheless his eyes darted as he stood to his full height.

"Demon, where? I don't see a demon," he said as though it was completely normal for dragons to speak, as he finally caught sight of the barking canine-like creature a bit of a ways off. It certainly didn't look like a demon to him.

[Chimerai]

It was insulting, to say the least, when the words 'lesser demon' reached his ears. It was downright infuriating when the presence of said demon was questioned. Did they think he was a mere stray dog!?! His barking swiftly transformed into a continuous snarl, and flames whipped to life around the hound's form, fully illuminating and separating him from the shadows. Surely none could question his status as a demon now, and a less than cheerful demon at that. His desire to retaliate with words as well as fang overcame his wish to instantly pounce upon his foes, however, and in a flash of fire his form changed, snarls dissolving into speech.

"Lesser demon!? You..."

His words easily melded back into growling, and his newly acquired state could now easily be seen amongst the fire. The being that stood before them now seemed entirely different from the horned dog who had previously occupied that space. In his natural state he easily appeared to be a fully grown beast to those who were not familiar with his breed. In reality he was quite far from it. Around the age of a teenager, in fact. Even for sixteen, however, he was rather short, appearing younger than he actually was. The runt of his litter. It was the reason he had been abandoned in the first place, and also the cause of his short temper when comments regarding his size were brought up. In his mind, 'lesser' quite easily translated into weaker, smaller, and all around less competent.

Dark hair fell in messy locks around the top of his head, amber eyes staring angrily at those who had offended him. Loose, red clothing was draped around his body, a black sash holding his pants in place, and bare feet poked out from beneath the baggy garments. His body remained covered in fur, and his ears and tail were still apparent, with tiny stubs all that was left of his horns, giving him the appearance of an anthropomorph. If one could disregard the fact that he was cloaked in flames, the petite demon actually looked rather cute.

Of course, he fancied himself fairly fearsome at the moment, staring down a dragon with fire licking along his fur. What Kurai really resembled at the moment, however, was a child about to throw a temper tantrum. Which likely wasn't a bad comparison, given the circumstances.

[Kaidona]

Axis blinked into the vicious glow of the flare, his pallid features scrunching slightly behind rebellious lengths of smooth, rich ebon. Nigh black eyes—bearing an array of silver flecks arranged suspiciously into rune-like patterns—squinted past lengthy hair, soon turning down to meet the woman still sat at his feet, before swiveling about to find Aegir as well. The dragon could talk… There was something strangely comforting about that detail.

Insipid features, haggard, thin and sunken, swung around and stared impassively at the infernal canid, those slate orbs nonchalantly half-lidded, framed by earthy tendrils of moss-touched umber, most of which sat bound together down the woman’s back. “Should that answer your question?” she inquired with a monotonous drawl, crossing her arms in the midst of the fiery lad’s offended snarling. Loose, flowing robes, dark in nature and woven with cryptic embroidery, swallowed her posture, long sleeves threatening to devour even her hands should she let them stray from chest level. Thin brows were raised, gaunt jaw line tipped upward, her presence subtly judgemental.

As the light granting her visual perception died down, she held her focus on the dimmer glow, one ear, long and pointed as that of an elf, intent on the dark reptile. She certainly didn’t miss the splintering of entire trees; the sound was too raucous for that, though her attention had clearly been preoccupied with what she deemed more pressing. “…Yes,” she finally confirmed into the darkness, her avian eyes piercing, despite her utter lack of nocturnal vision. “Lesser demon. Beasts are classified as lesser demons. But clearly you’re still young—a pup. Be forewarned; delusions of grandeur tend not to sway my view in your favor.”

[Cosmos]

Aegir's countenance did not waver in the slightest as the third creature became engulfed in flames. Now he knew what the others were talking about, and his golden eyes met those of the flaming Kurai, devoid of any sort of intimidation. Though not specifically a fire dragon, Aegir was indeed fire-breathing and his hide was impervious to such things. Apparently, though, it wasn't impervious to splinters and the young wyrm busied himself with trying to dislodge a piece of wood from between the scales on his side.

"Oh, oh, I see it now," commented the reptile as he hopped a bit in his attempt to free the splinter with his back foot, but to no avail. His attention was diverted completely as he made another feeble attempt with his front hand, but that too was in vain. He couldn't even bend himself enough to get it with his teeth. It was of course his fault for slamming into a tree in the first place; then again he had been startled.

The dragon shook himself in the same way a wet dog would, but his girth would not allow for fast enough shaking to get rid of the increasingly itchy object. No matter, he told himself, there were more important things going on around him that he was just now becoming aware of.

"I don't see what he's so mad about," said Aegir, looking back to the demon. He had clearly missed the words that most certainly would not have a good outcome if simply being classified made the fiery one indignant enough, but the knightly dragon nevertheless took a few steps forward in order to quickly move his flame-resistant self in front of those who weren't lest this got any worse. He stood tall, metallic scales shimmering in the moonlight, and despite how brave he made himself look, a fight was the last thing on his mind.

[Chimerai]

The woman's manner certainly did not do anything to improve the fire hound's mood, and the flames surrounding him rippled in agitation as she spoke again. It was quite clear young Kurai did not care in the least for her classifications. In the same way that a teenager would take insult to being called a child, the demon's eyes narrowed to thin slits at the word 'pup', lips curling backwards to reveal still sharp teeth. The fact that this less-than-educated dog didn't quite understand the meaning of 'delusions of grandeur' only worked to further his frustration, and though he wasn't the most imaginative stray he didn't hesitate to retaliate with a nasty yet uncreative single-syllable word.

"Bitch."

His attention did momentarily shift at the dragon's words, however, and he quite promptly labeled him as an idiot. On a smaller creature, his attempts to rid himself of the piece of wood would seem slightly awkward, but on such a large beast Kurai found it entirely comical. Enough so to lighten his mood slightly, but not to completely diminish his anger. He toyed with the idea of assisting the lizard, as he had nothing in particular against dragons and he had by now attributed his previous comment to lack of either perception or intelligence. Burning a simple splinter to ashes was child's play for one such as him.

Despite his faint amusement and the fact that he was considering to help the non-humanoid creature, Kurai did noticably alter his pose as the imposing reptile moved closer to a more defensive stance. This was just about the last thing he needed at the moment. Surely, he could put up a decent fight, but more often than not he found himself on the losing end. The fact that what could very possibly become an adversary in several seconds had a dragon on their side did not tip the situation in his favor. Quite certain he was about to be attacked, he spoke, words coming out in a bitter snarl.

"I suppose you're on her side, then?"

[Kaidona]

Axis’ face lost so many degrees of expression that it attained a comical flatness. The dog took so much offense at the term ‘lesser’, and came up with that as his retort? His palm met his forehead, its heel rubbing firmly at his brow, which had quickly creased with strain, before reluctantly falling. Dark eyes watched the dragon move, their perception soon snatching a glimpse of the splinter that had been blighting Aegir but moments earlier, and he shifted on his feet, lightly skirting around his companion’s—or perhaps master’s—reach.

The woman’s brow had risen, her arms remaining steadfastly crossed against her chest. Her mouth opened, drawing in a preparatory breath, but what thought may have escaped her lips was strangled with a peculiar and somewhat alarming gurgle. Ostensibly sickly features tweaked, one side scrunching entirely in distinct discomfort, just before it stretched obscenely to the opposite side, the process of which voiced itself with the telltale cracking and grinding of bone. For a moment, one could swear her skull was splitting in two, however as it continued to warp, it increasingly appeared as though a second, separate, entity was forcing its way out.

The right half of her countenance darkened, developing a subtle sheen, until a vicious ripping noise jerked her form, and a bestial head—spine-ridged, muzzled, armed with rows of needle-like teeth—had broken free to share space atop her shoulders. Narrow eyes, crimson amber, barely deigned to shudder at the slightly pained, primarily aggravated, grunt escaping the elf-eared woman, before a terrible, sneering grin corrupted its scarcely feline maw, and long ears swiveled backwards. “Such a temper,” a low, intricately layered voice crooned, condescending. “What’re you going to do with it?” It chuckled. “Waste time better spent chewing on bones with meaningless pissing contests?”

Frozen mid-step in his trek towards Aegir, the dimly sparking man stood blank-faced, arm awkwardly outstretched from the shoulder, foot hovering in the air. The distressing cracks of his companion’s skull had slowed him only by a thin margin, but the transition of noise to speech pinned his heel to the earth beneath him. Shutting his eyes, he spent just long enough to draw in a long breath, knot his brow, and purse his lip stiffly, before he put his foot down and resumed forward, quickly closing the gap between himself and the dragon. A bit of reaching, and one deft pinch of articulate fingers, Axis snatched at the splinter and tugged swiftly upon it—the buried end of the wood fragment seemed to dissolve as he did so.

[Cosmos]

Clearly now the dragon was scowling, and his basic instincts were beginning to surface as the ever-increasing strangeness unfolded before him. He took another step between the would-be combatants, swaying his head and moving his body as if he was truly the size of the wyrms of legend. Aegir had cringed inwardly as the demon spoke, and had gotten the exact result he had anticipated. By the gods, all he wanted to do tonight was sleep for once.

The dragon growled, though nervously. The female, what was she? It made him incredibly uneasy watching the whole thing, and to say he couldn't wrap his head around it would be putting it lightly. But he shook it off, tossing his lowered head from side to side a few seconds before returning to his braced stance.

"Woah, woah, woah now, what in the name of Sleipnir is going on here?" said the reptile, loudly enough to be heard over flames and silent chaos, though devoid of any abrasion.

"Nobody here has any need to be all on fire or scary looking, now-" he stopped, eyes widening and his scowl disappearing completely as he finally noticed that Axis had removed the wooden fragment and that his itch was gone.

"Hey, thanks," came his idle comment, and the dragon promptly forgot what his previous sentence was going to be, so he decided to address Kurai's inquiry.
"I'm not on any sides here but the side of good, and, well, saying things like that isn't what I would say is good. Then again, that didn't look very good either... If anything, I'd like it best if we all just..." he trailed off to let out an elaborate, guttural yawn, "Kept quiet."

[Seylor]

From several meters away gleamed the red eyes of a silent watcher, invisible to all but those whom he wish to be seen by. His cloak of shadows, a spell of his own invention, completely obliterated his form in the darkness, aside from his gleaming red eyes, the glow of which was augmented by his own illusions. Having observed this whole encounter from his cleverly hidden foxhole, Seylor found this whole scene obscenely amusing.

He saw the events unfold with the utmost predictability, up until the woman;s transformation, of course. THAT was a surprise. Seylor saw this as the perfect time to make himself known, to attempt to diffuse the situation, as the demon-dog seemed to be in quite a rage, and Seylor didn't wish to seem him obliterated by the opposing group.

Seylor silently discarded the illusion's surrounding his foxhole and rose from it, taking swift measured steps towards the group. He moved with a grace unbefitting his form, and his form was indistinct at best, even though he had removed his cloak of shadows with a flick of his wrist. The displacement spells were also of his own invention...

Upon arriving in the middle of the contesting forces a split second after leaving his fox hole, Seylor stopped dead, faced both groups, and in accordance with the dragon's wishes, announced his desire for peace silently by placing his hand over the left side of his face, a sign of peace in his homeworld.

[Chimerai]

Kurai, who had been quite prepared for a multitude of other scenarios, most of which ended with him simply charging the woman, completely froze as what appeared to be a demon's head forced its way out from the humanoid's form. While it was true that this particular hound had made his home in hell before eventually rising to the surface world, he had been abandoned fairly quickly and had not yet had a chance to see any spells or such regarding demons. In hell he had been quite content to keep his head down and scurry away from possible fights, as almost every being he encountered in his district was a great deal larger than him. He had never laid witness to such an occurrence, and quite truthfully, he found it just as appealing as a human would if a human's head formed itself on the side of a dog's shoulder.

"-The hell? Eeeeeewwwwwww."

His face contorted in disgust as the creature spoke, feeling as though the meat he had eaten earlier that day was about to be subtracted from his stomach contents. An older hell hound, having grown up in the household of a demonic master, would think nothing of such things, and would likely have easily been able to account worse from recent memory. Kurai, however, was neither experienced nor mature, and the worse he had seen had been in the streets, usually from a 'safe' distance. In terms of size and strength, he had seen a great deal of demons quite a bit more fearsome than the dragon. This though, was simply disgusting.The young hound's mind refused to comprehend the head's words, and he missed Aegir's entirely.

It was hard, however, to miss the arrival of a completely different entity altogether, and Kurai did have to blink a few times as he tried to make him out in the light cast by his flames. The meaning of the newcomer's gesture was lost on him, and though he was still feeling a bit sick from the woman's... 'transformation', he felt compelled to at the very least question what he deemed to be a rather random and sudden appearance.

"Now who the hell are you?"

He certainly did have a way with words... At the very least his flames had calmed a bit. Though it would be untrue to state they had lessened in intensity, they were no longer rippling angrily about his form. Likely a result of his disgust, as certainly he was having much difficulty remaining enraged while his stomach was churning. At the moment they were unnaturally still about him, only flickering in the slightest as the wind grazed his fur. It was most definitely an improvement, though it was yet to be seen whether it would escalate again once he regained his composure.

[Kaidona]

The face of the demon head twisted, warping into a horrifically diabolical grin, before a hearty, baleful cackle burst from parting jaws. “Disgust?!” it howled, shifting awkwardly. “Kid, you’re a riot!” It leaned forward as it closed its mouth, and its laughter died to a tantalizing chuckle, its neck soon craning to its right.

The avian-eyed woman—still sitting, arms still crossed—had her own head leaned to the side, her features, more sunken than they had been just moments earlier, contorted into a faint wince, which intensified as the strain of her own flesh and bone raced up through her frame and into her ears. Her right arm began to shudder, her respective hand clenching thin fingers into the opposing bicep, while, starting at her shoulder, it too began to stretch and perforate much like her skull had, steadily splitting into the toned, powerful arm of a quadruped.

In the midst of it all, Axis had been turned to respond to Aegir, his mouth still hanging open, despite the thought that had gone dancing astray and entirely out of his mind. Bits of ebon slipped into his face as those pale features lost grasp of what their casual expression was, brow and mouth both flattening, until he had properly achieved what many would call ‘deadpan’. Shutting his mouth with an audible clack, he turned silver-flecked eyes first to regard the canine, then to meet the dragon once again, before beginning the trek around towards the robe-clad woman, only to lose track of that path and follow the strange man setting himself directly in the middle of them all. A vacant blink expressed the extent to which the sparking man had been distracted, until his head shook a moment later, and a loud squelch yanked his attention about.

The arm had torn free—another grunt escaped the woman—and was preparing to twist around and push against her, when bony fingers shot down and gripped its wrist with the rigidity of a vice. The emerging demon paused then, swiveling its head about to meet her with a nasal huff.

“Aceldama,” the woman growled sternly, narrowing her eyes and tightening her grasp, “remove yourself any further and you won’t be robbed only of your freedom to roam.”

[Cosmos]

Aegir had expected at least some of the demon's attention (the dragon was, after all, talking to him), and he received only the slightest bit of a mere fraction. In fact, none of them seem to give him an answer save for Axis, but whatever the man was going to say was lost. The dragon felt rather lost himself, and it agitated a bit of his primal instincts. Yet again making himself known with a deep growl, he put on his best brave and ferocious stance, head held high and his chest stuck out in the same way a biped would to make itself seem bigger. With this new countenance he regarded yet another new appearance for naught but a steady moment. He would deal with that one later.

In a half step, half jump, he brought himself closer to the canine-like demon.
"Hey you, I'm talking to you so you better listen!" said Aegir, though not as intimidating as he'd hoped. There was a bothersome trace of a youngster trying to sound big. It was then he caught the noise behind him, and twisted his reptilian body to send a golden glare towards the creature seemingly plighting the woman.

"You need help with that?" he said to her, though still looking at the emerging creature. Down his spine ran a chill, but he combated it with his thoughts. Aegir had witnessed men turn into wolves and convinced himself that the existence of stranger things was inevitable. He himself was a talking dragon, though 'help' in his language would consist of giving the intrusive monstrosity a good whack with his spike flail.

[Seylor]

Seylor stood amongst this strange assortment of characters, seemingly unnoticed. On any other occassion, this would be a good thing, as it would mean that his illusions were working, but Seylor was not used to being overlooked when he wished to be seen. Tensions had escalated in the group and Seylor wasn't particularly in the mood to watch people get hurt over nothing, So he Turned to The demon dog and said,

"I am a newcomer to these lands and a traveler at that. I wish for this issue to be resolved peacefully, as I have seen far too much bloodshed of late."

Seylor turned to face the rest of the group, wincing slightly at the sight of the woman's shoulder being ripped open by an alien arm.

"There seems here to be little to fight about. This encounter needn't be a violent one, nor even a hostile one if you all would just calm down."

At this point,, Seylor looked directly at the demon-woman and said, "Now I think we are all wondering what the HELL is going on with you..."

[Chimerai]

Kurai scowled uneasily at the demon's words, still attempting to ease his mind into accepting the simple fact that it was there. He had found that talking seemed to help, as the rather unkind greeting he had directed towards the newcomer had eased his nerves slightly, and so he was quick to open his mouth in what was likely going to be another rude and crudely stated comment. Before so much as a whimper could escape his mouth, however, the scene became all the more disturbing. An arm, this time, separated from her body, and all at once he began to feel more than a bit lightheaded. This was not something he was accustomed or comfortable to bearing witness to.

The world seemed a bit fuzzy at the moment, though faintly he could comprehend that the woman had grabbed said arm, and even though he was quite sure he saw her lips move he failed to hear anything beyond that. Then suddenly he became aware that something large had moved in towards him, and his feet desperately sought purchase on the ground as he stumbled back far more clumsily than was usual for the hound. Was someone yelling at him? He couldn't be sure. Kurai's thoughts were more than a bit blurry at the moment, and his stomach's threats to relieve him of his stolen food were becoming all the more persistent.

Really, it was quite amusing for a demon to be disturbed by such happenings. One would expect that to be the one sort of creature that would remained unfazed in light of these occurrences. Unfortunately, as his feet finally failed to regain balance after being thrown off by the dragon's actions and he landed on his rear, it was quite apparent this was not so. Placing a hand over the right half of his face and shutting his eyes, he struggled to clear the unpleasant images from his mind, flames altogether vanishing and relieving the immediate area of the light cast from his rather petite form.

[Kaidona]

An awful giggle burbled out of the serpent-eyed creature’s throat, cooing mockingly to the canid within the moment. “Daww… Poor little thing… Your stomach’s all weak...” An abrupt twinge ran up its arm. “Goddammit, you haughty buzzard!” it snapped, its ears flattening again as its attention whirled back on the woman. The humor it had claimed from Kurai’s revulsion died staggeringly swiftly. “I need a chance to stretch, too!”

“You do not.” Those fingers dug between the bones of the beast’s forearm. “Your body is a manifestation derived from my flesh, and you take a profusion of opportunities to stretch your tongue despite my consistent demands that you don’t.”

Crimson amber eyes narrowed sharply. “So what?”

“So go back to your corner and sit down like the naughty pussy-cat you are,” Axis interjected, finally somewhat perturbed by his companion’s quandary.

That broad head whipped around, baring rows of glistening needle teeth. “Shut up, ass-kiss!” it snarled.

The energy that consistently coursed through Axis’ frame intensified sharply, beginning to crackle and snap, flashing maliciously in the darkness. His form hunched, hands clenched, and something burned in the depths of his eyes, his mouth opening, and genuine anger formulating from his throat. “I am not the one kissing ass here; I am Va’alimi’nen’varea’s servant! You are just a sniveling little whelp who still refuses to learn the same as his place!”

“BULL—”

“Both of you stop!!” the woman roared, strangling Aceldama’s retort mid-trek to his mouth. “You would both remember that neither of you is any more privileged than the other, and that, in order to retain what shreds of your souls preserve your sense of being and individuality, you will keep your end of the agreement!” Features contorted in ire, she lifted predatorial eyes to meet Aegir, breaking the brief silence that ensued to demonstrate that she hadn’t ignored him. “As appealing as the offer may be, I have doubts it would resolve anything. I appreciate the thought, in any case.”

The fractionally formed demon grunted, puffing a low snort from his nose.

Axis fell slack, his frame drawing into a resigned slouch. “…Sorry, Moerdodernemig.”

“Brown-noser,” Aceldama shot.

“Cambodian chicken roast,” Axis snapped back.

Whatever bewilderment may have vocalized itself from half-pantherine jaws was cut short when merciless hands wrapped around Aceldama’s muzzle and clamped it shut. “I will also,” the avian-eyed woman clenched abruptly enough that his maw made a sickly crunch, “have you remember that there are no codes of conduct among those of my station to your kind, and that your service as familiars are so purely out of benevolence for your characters.” The notion was spoken with the utmost coldness, those gaunt, angular features hardened, steely.

The dark beast shuddered slightly within her grasp, luminous eyes gradually sliding down to meet Va’alimi’nen’varea, before the recently freed arm twitched, soon pawing vainly, piteously at the air, as though in feeble attempt to struggle. Another crunch rang out, followed by a low gurgle, and then a squelch; within moments, Aceldama’s structure began to crumble, breaking apart at an increasingly molecular level, until no trace of him remained, not even dust.

Gradually lowering her hands, the robe-clad woman turned to regard Seylor, her countenance bland, casual, as though absolutely nothing out of the ordinary had happened. “Liken it to a child throwing a tantrum,” she replied calmly, her eyes drifting to meet Axis, who was watching the dog demon at that point. “A jealous, selfish tantrum.”

[Cosmos]

The dragon bared his teeth and concluded that he indeed didn't like being invisible very much, though he also didn't desire the extent of spotlight one of the newcomers was getting. As if he wasn't already agitated enough by again not getting his question answered, the ones who had woken him up in the first place got into a yelling match when he had specifically asked for quiet. The more Aegir watched the spectacle before him the more he wished to be a bigger, more regular wyrm with his own cave of gold and a fire breath that could have taken care of at least most of the intruders he had run into out here.

He swayed as he watched, though mostly out of instinct, as he larger cousins did such a thing to look intimidating. His growl was clearly audible, and the heavy manner in which he breathed made it look as though he was indeed preparing himself to make a show of his own fire powers if the noise didn't die down soon. A draconian tail had waved dangerously behind him, lest he needed to use the spiked mass on its end, and he would have without waiting to be answered had the argument not ended sooner.

What remained of his unused fire breath escaped in the form of smoke out the dragon's nose, causing a rather violent sneezing fit. Some dragon I am, he thought, barely able to handle my own smoke. A grunting, growling groan brought him back to reality and he gave each of the others a once-over, continuing to look around as he spoke due to the inability to decide on which one of them to settle his eyes on, and a primal alertness his instincts brought up.

"Well," came his rumbling voice, "We got that out of the way."

[Seylor]

Seylor looked at the group with a sense of bewilderment. These people were a motley crew to say the least, yet they could show remarkable focus when in argument, with several not even seeming to notice him and his sudden appearance. He could not decide if this was admirable or simply annoying...

As he was contemplating this, the light in the area, shed by the demon-canine, abrubtly faltered and then dissapeared. Seylor thought that perhaps by restoring the light he might at least get himself noticed. His initial curiosity at the squabble had turned into a indignancy at being unnoticed. He seemed to sense the same with the dragon, whose race he had always had an affinity for.

With a small gesture at his side, the area the group occupied was filled with a dim light. It was ambient in nature, and had no direct source, it was simply there.

In the new light, Seylor could see the dragon looking annoyed, spiked tail waving behind it. Seylor could tell it was not an overt threat, but more of an act of subtle intimidatation. Though he was sure the dragon was a truly formidable opponent, as all dragons were, he sensed little immediate danger with this one. Seeing the frustration within it though, he turned to face him alone.

"These people..... what the Hell is wrong with them?"