05-15-2019, 11:35 AM
and underneath the layers, I find myself asking what's left
a hollowed out form, the skeleton of a ghost, the pitiful echo of what once was
a hollowed out form, the skeleton of a ghost, the pitiful echo of what once was
And so, it begins.
It was a looming knowledge that Castile embraced. He did not fear. He did not tremble. He waited.
Sitting upon his throne, with a crown crookedly – arrogantly – cocked on his brow, Castile steps from the mouth of his mountain cave. Chaos breaks across Loess, and he hears Leliana’s voice resonate through the kingdom, brimming with fury. A smug grin tugs at the corner of his mouth and his eyes flash mischievously. Silly, impulsive girl, he thinks. She arrives and channels her rage, sprouting trees and brush and thorns from nothingness. Vegetative towers erupt from the flatlands of Loess and consume the rolling hills and sentinel cacti. Castile’s gaze intensifies to scrutinize her work – the labor of a newly-crowned Queen and magician – before regarding his family with a curt nod. They know. All of Loess knows. They were poking the sleeping bear, and now it is awake.
They’ve already accomplished one of their goals.
Castile’s piebald skin flickers into the beige and brown of the rocky mountain harboring him and his family, like camouflage. Nayl, Reia, and Cyprin say nothing as the king slips away into the veiled shadows.
Tephra’s volcano juts from the horizon as he soars excitedly northwest. He sees the others – Wolfbane and Ophanim – also take flight just as they’ve agreed. There’s no need to speak. They fly in silence, already with the plans settled and in commencement.
Just as they hoped, Leliana has abandoned her home.
A blood-curdling roar pierces the night sky as Castile’s body transitions from horse to dragon. A flash of lightning in the clouds glimmers off his scales as they ripple into an obsidian base, his spines a scarlet red. The other men descend and set the world on fire.
Their bodies illuminate, briefly, by the inferno set ablaze to the kingdom until Litotes cloaks them in darkness. Flames spill from Castile’s muzzle when he dives and burns another hundred yards of Tephra’s soil and trees. There is shouting below as the Tephrans either flee or prepare to defend their volcanic home. Merciless, just as Leliana was toward Loess, Castile expels another plume of fire across the land as he soars through, his beating wings sounding like claps of thunder.
Smoke swirls into his nostrils and feeds his adrenaline like fuel. On an updraft, Castile lifts himself with hardly any thrusts of his wings. A fluid bank sits him high above to observe the damage ailing the landscape. Up here, he can see the void of darkness and the speck of Litotes beneath, crafting and manipulating it. The others are trapped within the shadows, extending fingers of fire across anything and everything they can reach. Another roar erupts as Castile shifts and drives back down upon seeing Leliana’s return and the barricade she supplies in attempt to preserve the second half of her home. So much of it is already in shambles – blackened and scorched - , but she stands defiantly even as her shield weakens nearest to her. A sweep past brings a wave of fire from Castile’s mouth, threatening to exhaust her efforts before he pivots and disappears back into the shadows for another loop.
When he emerges this time, however, he does not target Leliana or her barrier.
His eyes – darting to and fro – find the opposing dragon as he suddenly breaches through Litote’s umbrage. There is minimal time as he darts toward her, pivoting his body so that, hopefully, his talons and body can slam against her at the last moment. Wings, scales, and teeth clash while all around them, a fire relentlessly blazes. Leliana is temporarily forgotten as Castile’s own battle rages on in an effort to bring down and destroy the foreign dragon.
It was a looming knowledge that Castile embraced. He did not fear. He did not tremble. He waited.
Sitting upon his throne, with a crown crookedly – arrogantly – cocked on his brow, Castile steps from the mouth of his mountain cave. Chaos breaks across Loess, and he hears Leliana’s voice resonate through the kingdom, brimming with fury. A smug grin tugs at the corner of his mouth and his eyes flash mischievously. Silly, impulsive girl, he thinks. She arrives and channels her rage, sprouting trees and brush and thorns from nothingness. Vegetative towers erupt from the flatlands of Loess and consume the rolling hills and sentinel cacti. Castile’s gaze intensifies to scrutinize her work – the labor of a newly-crowned Queen and magician – before regarding his family with a curt nod. They know. All of Loess knows. They were poking the sleeping bear, and now it is awake.
They’ve already accomplished one of their goals.
Castile’s piebald skin flickers into the beige and brown of the rocky mountain harboring him and his family, like camouflage. Nayl, Reia, and Cyprin say nothing as the king slips away into the veiled shadows.
Tephra’s volcano juts from the horizon as he soars excitedly northwest. He sees the others – Wolfbane and Ophanim – also take flight just as they’ve agreed. There’s no need to speak. They fly in silence, already with the plans settled and in commencement.
Just as they hoped, Leliana has abandoned her home.
A blood-curdling roar pierces the night sky as Castile’s body transitions from horse to dragon. A flash of lightning in the clouds glimmers off his scales as they ripple into an obsidian base, his spines a scarlet red. The other men descend and set the world on fire.
Their bodies illuminate, briefly, by the inferno set ablaze to the kingdom until Litotes cloaks them in darkness. Flames spill from Castile’s muzzle when he dives and burns another hundred yards of Tephra’s soil and trees. There is shouting below as the Tephrans either flee or prepare to defend their volcanic home. Merciless, just as Leliana was toward Loess, Castile expels another plume of fire across the land as he soars through, his beating wings sounding like claps of thunder.
Smoke swirls into his nostrils and feeds his adrenaline like fuel. On an updraft, Castile lifts himself with hardly any thrusts of his wings. A fluid bank sits him high above to observe the damage ailing the landscape. Up here, he can see the void of darkness and the speck of Litotes beneath, crafting and manipulating it. The others are trapped within the shadows, extending fingers of fire across anything and everything they can reach. Another roar erupts as Castile shifts and drives back down upon seeing Leliana’s return and the barricade she supplies in attempt to preserve the second half of her home. So much of it is already in shambles – blackened and scorched - , but she stands defiantly even as her shield weakens nearest to her. A sweep past brings a wave of fire from Castile’s mouth, threatening to exhaust her efforts before he pivots and disappears back into the shadows for another loop.
When he emerges this time, however, he does not target Leliana or her barrier.
His eyes – darting to and fro – find the opposing dragon as he suddenly breaches through Litote’s umbrage. There is minimal time as he darts toward her, pivoting his body so that, hopefully, his talons and body can slam against her at the last moment. Wings, scales, and teeth clash while all around them, a fire relentlessly blazes. Leliana is temporarily forgotten as Castile’s own battle rages on in an effort to bring down and destroy the foreign dragon.
castile
@[Casimira]
Permission has already been given for half of Tephra to burn <3 and anything that isn't permanent and doesn't REQUIRE every person to be harmed or interact with it.