Silence filled the forest as Nixie watched the cave, her talons shaking as she felt the cold wind. How was it so cold here, in a land filled with life and trees? There seemed to be little life in this patch, as if the freezing temperatures inside of the cave killed everything nearby.
"Nixie... that is your name, right?" a small, tiny voice asked. Nixie wasn't sure if it was just in her head or if it was inside of the cave. Wherever it came from, Nixie nodded. The voice was gruff, but there was an odd, fatherly tone to it. This dragon wasn't bad.
She hoped not, anyway.
"Don't waste time," he said quietly. "Come to the back of the cave."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Nixie! Nixie, where did you go?" Kain called, running through the damp forest with Salo on her heels, the other Pearlcatcher keeping his ears pricked for any sign of the Bogsneak. They were miles away from the Proxima Centauri clan now, and it was only a matter of time before Ray found out they were gone. "Salo, any sign of her?"
Shaking his head, Salo slowed down, inspecting the abundance of trees. Following his gaze, Kain inspected the trees.
"The life ends there," Salo suddenly said, jumping up and charging through the woods. Kain yelped, backing up as she watched Salo run. She didn't know if she was meant to follow. If she did, they'd be going into the Viridian Labyrinth. That wasn't their land, and the only dragons who went there were Usha, Ray, Maegan and Zero- maybe the Council, but only those with power in the clan even had a reason to leave their own territories.
But something was off. Why were the trees dead there? They were skeletons, raising toward the sun as if attempting to regain their lives, but unable to regrow their green leaves no matter what they tried. It was so strange.
Just the place that Nixie would be drawn to, wasn't it?
Kain stood up, charging after Salo after a few minutes. She'd have to follow him mostly by scent now, after hesitating for so long.
Running through the forest, she felt an odd chill as she suddenly slammed into Salo, rolling on the ground beside him as he toppled. But he seemed a bit too invested in what he was looking at to even notice the larger Pearlcatcher.
Kain snarled as she stood up, about to tell him off, before the chill seemed to get worse. She blinked, looking toward what appeared to be a cave.
All of the plant live around it was dead. She didn't know why, but it probably had to do with just how cold the area was. Kain balked a bit at the temperature, looking over at Salo.
They heard a yelp.
"Nixie!" Kain called, charging into the cave. Something was happening. Something big.
You're on time, a barely familiar voice spoke, not in the cave, but connected to her. She knew it was happening now. It was all making sense now. Something she had both feared and dreamed of for years, something that was out of her control.
Somehow, Nixie was connected to the Others.
Charging to the back of the cave, Kain froze, her eyes widening as she saw the little Bogsneak looking up at what appeared to be a stony surface, with a large chunk of ice in the middle of it. Dragonmade, somehow. She wasn't sure how it was done, though magic could've easily been the answer. She knew that Ebony was rather proficient in wind magic.
Approaching, Kain watched Nixie, who's talon seemed almost stuck to a glass or ice pedestal in front of her. She didn't seem worried, though. Her odd eyes seemed to glow gently as, within a second, the front of the ice seemed to explode, sending a burst of water out. The symbol of the Arcanist appeared over Nixie's head for a moment, surprising the young dragoness.
Backing up and blocking their eyes from the water, the two dragons heard as Salo entered the cave, slowing down his pace rapidly as the water flow subsided.
When Kain opened her eyes, she was met with a furry, wet, rune covered creature. For a moment, she thought she was facing a Tundra, but it was too big for that, alongside the long claws on his feet.
Kain didn't know why she knew, but she did. She knew who this was immediately.
"Hawthorne," she whispered, lowering her talons as the strange dragon sent a grin at the others, shaking himself off.
"Kain," he said, his voice clearer and more... relaxed than ever. "Nice to finally meet you all."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You called for me," Nixie whispered, the Bogsneak watching the strange dragon. "You knew I could open that."
"Yes, I did," Hawthorne replied, his tone only able to be described as a grunting bear. He seemed awfully bear like. "It was a similar dragon who locked me in there. She's around here somewhere, I think. Not... the nicest dragon."
Kain remained quiet, inspecting the glittering runes on Hawthorne's body. His eyes were a deep, clear blue, like the ocean- a water dragon. That was odd, considering they were so far out from the ocean. However, it was what he was that surprised Kain.
This wasn’t just some ordinary dragon. With horns like an Imperial, a build like a Guardian and the shaggy coat of a Tundra, he was a lot of things. His claws even resembled Ridgebacks that Kain had seen passing through to trade.
“Gods almighty, you’re…” Kain began, stopping herself to not seem rude. Hawthorne blinked, looking down at his wet and matted coat.
“A Gaoler. It’s… been a while, probably haven’t seen any even in writing,” Hawthorne explained. “But I assure you, we’re not extinct, though our numbers have probably dwindled greatly for a while. We’re the first of your… Others, you called them?”
“Yes,” Kain replied, frowning. The first? So that meant more of them would awaken. And the more awakened… then the more trouble they were in if any came to Ray’s clan. “Why… were you trapped in there? And for so long?” she asked quietly. Hawthorne pondered that for a moment, shrugging.
“Seems an old friend of mine wasn't thrilled with me wanting to leave the ocean to go to the Southern Icefield. We got stuck in here in a fight after she chased me inside the cave. It collapsed, of course. Trapped me in the rock up there, and I… believe she possibly did the same to herself somewhere in the cave to keep herself alive. Dunno why she decided that was a good idea, or if it’d even work. Being born by the ocean and all, I think she had a feeling we could remain alive down here.”
Kain frowned, inspecting Hawthorne’s tiny, padded wings. He looked at them, shrugging. “Gaoler’s are not a flying breed. They’re for digging,” he explained curtly, stepping toward the exit of the cave. “We should be heading off, I presume? You were worried about Ray and his lackeys coming after you.”
Frowning, Kain stood up as Salo remained silent, nudging him with her wing. “Come on. Make sure Nixie is alright… I need to ponder this.”
“You were right,” Salo whispered, awestruck. “You could hear them.”
“This isn’t the time to ponder that,” Kain said, firm as she followed after Hawthorne. She had so much to ask him about! Why hadn’t he ever spoken to her much, but the other ones had? Why did he have to be the first to awaken?
He said their numbers may have dwindled. But he never said they were gone in the modern era. So that meant that they must’ve simply only been in hiding, waiting to come back, right?
She didn’t know. All she knew was that she wasn’t going to sleep tonight.
As they made their way toward the exit, another, angry voice called out in Kain’s mind. She seemed upset, and Kain could only assume it was the dragon who held Hawthorne there for so long. The large Gaoler looked down at the smaller Pearlcatcher, frowning as he moved a wing to gently pat her back.
“Don’t worry about her. She’ll get out eventually, and it won’t be you she’s angry with,” Hawthorne assured her, grinning a bit as the group made their way out of the territories of the Gladekeeper, and back toward their home.
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