Snippet #2769789

After two days at sea, the sun was high in the sky, and Neden and Dreux were in their normal spot on the small vessel. They were talking about normal things between them, Neden telling him about her village and what it was like living in a warrior based village and how she was an outcast since she could remember. He nodded and comforted her the best he could letting her know she was not alone in being an outcast, as he too was an outcast in his village and people. They discussed their common interests in battle, travel, exploration, and things of the unknown and mysterious. Dreux helped explain to her how magic worked in the world, and how certain people were born with special powers and abilities, as well as special connections to their gods, depending on what race they were in they weren't human.

"So..What other kinds of humans or races are there? Aside from human like me and Miithi like you, Dreux?" she asked as she took some bites of her food as they were enjoying their breakfast alone on the deck as the captain that had introduced himself as Luther, captain of the Omen, a single pirate that roamed the seas. He had left them to their own devices as he simply didn't care and stayed to himself, as he kept the boat going to Dragon Cove as he manipulated the water with his powers. Which had in all truth intrigued Neden and slightly scared her at the same time, usually being told to leave Luther alone as she'd watch him as he worked.

Dreux chuckled at her question and nodded as he wiped his mouth after a mouthful of rice and fish, placing the napkin on his lap he spoke, "There are many different races, dear. There's Miithi, which is what I am. We can be any kind, differing in canine like me, or felines, or bears...too many to count, honestly. Then there's Orcs, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Elves, Dark Elves, and High Elves, each having their own attributes and such of the like. Faeries, Nymphs, Merfolk, Giants, Treants, and then there's the descendants of Dragons...Draconians. Those that appear human and are very much so human but can change into their dragon forms whenever they see fit. All races have a mana threshold, depending on the race, they have a certain level of power. Et Cetera, Et Cetera. Anything else, my dear?" he asked and took another bite of food as he listened if Neden had any further questions.

Neden sat silently there as Dreux spoke of all the other kinds of races and how magic worked, her eyes widened as he spoke. Her mind was going all over the place trying to take in all the information she was given, it was almost too much for her, but she managed to retain it the best she could. She nodded and then looked down at her plate and then back up, and was about to speak when she felt a shiver go down her spine again.

She looked out towards the sea as something was calling towards her again, Dreux too looked towards the water and went silent, as if they were entranced by something. Dreux looked at Neden with a serious look on his face as he spoke the following, "Get up and get your sword and shield. Now!" he exclaimed as he jumped to his feet and retrieved his own sword and shield he had bought at the port town, and got into a defensive stance as Neden ran back with her sword and shield and stood in the same position as Dreux, with her shield in front of her as well as her sword in an offensive manner. Her hands held tightly to her weaponry as she looked around and then back at Dreux in confusion, "What...what is it?" she questioned

Dreux gripped his sword tightly as his eyes remained glued towards the sea, "Any second now...I can..oh fu-" he was cut off as a large shadow dashed across the water, causing the ship to almost tip over, but due to the captain maintaining his composure, the boat didn't keel over.

"Wh...what was-"

A scream echoed out, causing all three of the party to cover their ears in pain as they crouched down, and stood back up as the cry ended, looking around as confusion and worry set in for all of them. Dreux turned his head slowly around but saw nothing. A few short moments later the dark shadow made it's appearance again and what lied before they made them all stop and stare where they stood. A few feet above the water hovered a large, black shadowy figure as it seemed to examine the three. A large, black scaled dragon was before them. Its black and golden scales reflected in the light, as its shadow like fog covered the nearby vicinity of the boat around them. Encasing the ship in darkness, meaning their visibility was now hindered.

Dreux stayed closely by Neden as he continued to look around in the encroaching fog as he had to know where the beast was, "Ever fight a dragon before?" he said with a teasing tone in his voice.

Neden gave him a look of confusion on her face, "Wh-what? Have I ever fought a what?!" she exclaimed as she looked back around, trying to find the sight of the creature.

"I'll take that as a no. Dragons are said to be the oldest living beings. I guess you could say, they're the children of the Gods and Goddesses, and if more correctly, all life itself in one way or another. Did your village not teach you of the Gods?" he questioned her as he remained looking out as the dragon could attack any moment.

"No...They forbade it...I was never taught anything of the Gods...I guess you could I'm naive to this world?" she said with a bit of a tone of embarrassment and sadness as the realization of her not really knowing much of the world set in.

"It isn't really anything to be ashamed of. You weren't allowed to know, it's understandable. It doesn't make you naive or dumb...Just ill taught. Nothing to blame yourself for-" he was cut off as the voice of the captain came from the deck of the ship.

"Enough of this shit! Keep your eyes open for this bastar- AGH!!" he was immediately blasted off the main and onto where they were by a blast of what seemed to be black and purple smoke. He stood up and dusted himself off, unsheathing his own weapons as the thee kept their backs towards each other and their eyes and ears all around them.

Another screech rang out as the dragon darted out of the fog and shot another blast at Neden. Neden's eyes widened as the blast rocketed towards her, instinctively she guarded herself with her shield and prepared to be thrown back from the immense force of the projectile. But as the blast made contact with her shield, she was only moved back by a few inches as the power and mana that was infused into the shield gave Divine Protection and lessened the blow. Her eyes widened, and her hands wrapped around her weapons tighter, realizing this was life or death, and whatever powers her shield contained, it was clearly strong enough to keep herself getting blasted by its breath. But, it would not be enough to help defeat it. If the ship went down, they would all surely die.

Neden looked towards the others and then trialed the beast with her eyes, "It's encircling us! Keep your guards up!" she exclaimed and made a dash for the back of the ship. Dreux's eyes widened as he saw her run, but he had to hold his ground and keep his eyes open and alert for the next attack from the beast.

But another screech sounded, and out of nowhere another blast shot out and was aimed towards Neden. She managed to turn on her heels quickly, but it was too fast, out of instinct she guarded herself with her arms. After a few short moments of her eyes being shut, she slowly blinked, seeing that the blast was nowhere to be seen. But what was before her, made her eyes widen and her hands began to shake. In front of her, suspended in water was the blast. Neden looked to Luther to see if it was him, but he had his sword and shield in his hands and was dodging the dragons rapid-fire blasts that were aimed towards him. Neden looked next at Dreux, who only looked at her with a small smile on his face, "I knew it..." he mumbled to himself, as it was revealed that it was, in fact, Neden herself that had caused the water to form and take control of the blast.

Neden blinked and her hands shook, and after a few short moments, the water lost its form and fell to the floor of the ship as Neden lost her concentration. Dreux ran over to her and helped keep her protected as Luther fought off the dragon as best as he could, using a combination of his weapons and manipulation of the water to fend of the beast.

Neden looked at Dreux as he helped her to her feet, "Wh...what was...Dreux..?" she questioned with a scared tone to her voice as she looked up at the male that loomed over her.

Dreux smiled at her and held her hand as they began to engage the beats in combat again, "I will explain later, but now...We need to get this beast out of here or we will die! Pray to the Gods that we don't perish this day..." he said softly as the beast roared and sent several more blasts aimed towards them. Dreux sighed and sheathed his weapons. He dodged a few of the blasts, and as he saw an opening, he took a deep breath, planted his feet to the deck of the ship and sent a bolt of lightning at the beast, it managed to hit the right wing of the beast and it faulted for a few moments as it recovered from the attack. Luther took the moment as an opportunity and used his power to force a wave to smash into the beast, staggering it for a few moments until it recovered and flew up higher into the sky.

Neden watched as the other fought to the beast, doing their best to drive it away if they could. She looked towards the sky and closed her eyes for just a moment and spoke a soft prayer, "I don't know who's listening...But please...Please...Anyone...help us...Please!" she cried out in her mind as she joined the others to engage in a more than likely losing battle against a beast that was far more powerful than they were, but it did seem to be getting ready to leave, but they continued to press on. Dreux and Luther sending bolts of lightning and water against it whenever they had the opening to and dodged out of the way as more bursts of shadow magic were aimed at them. All they had to do was hope to the Gods that they could either tire it or by some miracle it would turn tail and leave them alone, as the ship had begone to become rather damaged from the magic of the beast.

As they continued what seemed to be their endless fight against the beast, Neden felt a breeze graze their skin and toss the boat to one side for a moment and all was still again. "What the bloody hell..." Luther muttered as he remained vigilant and looked around for the beast. Dreux looked at Neden as she looked at him with wide eyes until she collapsed onto the floor of the ship as a sharp pain found itself in her head. It was a voice, no...It was the same voice she had heard from before, the one calling them to help come to Dragon Cove. The very reason she was on the mission with Dreux at this very moment.

"My Child. Take this. My Power. Protect yourself from the Darkness!" the voice sounded as it reverberated through her head.

Dreux ran over to her as she fell, looking at her with concern. "Neden, are you okay? What happened?" he said with worry as he looked down at her with compassion and worry written all over his face.

Neden looked back up at him slowly, causing Dreux to draw back as he saw that her eyes were now black instead of white as they normally were, "A-are...are you alright-" he was cut off as Neden slowly rose to feet and brushed past him as her eyes trailed the beast in the sky as it circled above. She looked at him and shook her head, turning back towards the monster a light growl erupted from her throat as she fell to the floor once more and convulsed as she could feel something overtaking her body from within. Dreux rushed towards her and laid his hands on her gently, "It's alright, Neden...Just breathe...Breathe, and you'll be okay. Just...Just let the power flow..." he softly spoke to her and rose back to his feet, and turned to engage with the beast again.

As the two engaged in combat yet again, they were too busy to notice what was going on behind them. Suddenly something rushed past them and engaged in combat with the beast itself, it was a blur as it happened so quickly. But after a few moments of them recollecting themselves, they realized what it was. They watched as the dragon was busy fighting something else, it was smaller than the beast itself but larger than them. It was human in stature but was covered in light ice blue and silver colored scales, but it was lacking wings and a tail, unlike the beast they had been fighting.

"Is...Is that...?" Luther mumbled as he looked at Dreux who was in just as much shock as he was.

Dreux looked at him and nodded, "Yes...Yes, it is." he said with a small smile across his face as he watched the two creatures fight.

The black dragon shot up into the air as the smaller blue and gray one clung tightly to it, as it started crawing higher onto the beast. As a ditch attempt to shake off the smaller being, the dragon soared up into the sky and spun around, trying to shake itself free of the dragon. After what seemed to be an eternity of shaking it free, the beast shook itself free one more time, the smaller one digging its claws into the beast, blood oozing out of the small puncture wounds that were now dotted into its flesh. The large beast shook the smaller one off and it slammed onto the deck of the ship, as the larger black dragon had enough and flew off and eventually out of sight, taking the black and dark purple smog with it.

Luther and Dreux looked at each other, and then back at the beast that was smashed into the boat and ran over to it. It was crumpled into a pile, its arms and legs were curled up as it laid there silently, not moving. Luther looked at Dreux, then back at the beast and then back at Dreux, "Do...do you think it's de-" he was cut off as Dreux shook his head and knelt down beside it, gently placing his hand on the creature's shoulder.

"No. She'll be fine...She just needs to rest." he said calmly as he looked over the creature.

"But...That's a..A Draconian..It hit the ship rather hard..."

Dreux chuckled, "Just give her some time. She'll be back to her normal self after some time."

"She? You...You've seen these things, haven't you? Dragons and others?"

"I've seen a lot of things in my time...Draconians like Neden here are nothing new to me." he stated plainly as he looked at Luther, then back at the Draconian as it slowly began to lose its scales and reptilian features and turned back into the human form that dominated its body for more than twenty years. "She's been in her human form for twenty years...Those that possess dark magic or are corrupted by it will seek out beings with power, and since Neden here has been in her human form for the majority of her life from my assumptions...The dragon sensed her power and attacked us. This is why we need to get to Dragon Cove as soon as we can. For our safety's sake, as well as fixing up the ship, and Neden."

Luther nodded and turned his back as he examined his ship, "This is going to cost you two...But I appreciate what your friend here did...I think without her, we would have...well...ya know.." he murmured the rest of his apology and went to go see what would need to be fixed.

Meanwhile, Dreux attended to Neden and her wounds and would have to explain what happened to her when she came to, this was going to be a long story..