• Ra’Kiinar, Keldnaer, Casa di Pietra, the Hexagon, West Wing

    6:00 AM

    Bong! Bong! Bong!

    Daine rolled over, buried her head under her pillow, and refrained from rusting the bells until they broke. Lillie would kill her.

    Bong! Bong! Bong!

    Death-by-Lillie would be nothing compared to what Riizou would do to her.

    Bong! Bong! Bong!

    Just as Daine decided that she didn't really care as long as she got to sleep, the bells stopped. She sighed in relief, relaxed, and went back to sleep.

    Well, attempted to, anyway. She was prevented from reaching the desired state of unconsciousness by something large and fairly heavy landing on her back.

    “Getupgetupgetuuup! Upupup!”

    She groaned. Dangit. Someone gave Brogan caffeine.

    “Get off my bed, please. I can't get up with you sitting on my back.” She tried to insert a glare into her tone; it didn't fail miserably.

    The weight on her back vanished, accompanied by a disappointed, “Awwwww.” She rolled over and sat up, sending a mild Look at the strawberry blond boy that had invaded her room and commandeered her bed for use as a trampoline.

    Then she let out an “Ooof!” as said boy landed directly on her stomach.

    The bomb that had been ticking down since Daine woke up exploded.

    “BROGAN!”

    If any of the other inhabitants of the “castle” had been both awake and in the halls this early in the morning, they might have been startled by a sudden thump or two that sounded like it was coming from inside a solid wall. You see, although Daine was generally above cheating, getting revenge on Brogan was an exception. The Casa had been built pre-Unification, so the walls were riddled with secret passages and escape routes, and she had made it her business to acquire a mental map of them.

    So in the end, Brogan was absent at breakfast that morning. He was actually hanging over the pool-sized fountain in the entrance hall literally by a thread, but the rest of their group knew enough not to ask once they saw Daine's very satisfied smirk.

    After breakfast, Daine flopped on her bed and picked up a book that Lillie had recommended. Strangely enough, it was actually quite interesting. In fact, she got so caught up in it that by the next time she looked at her watch, it said 7:05.

    Ahh, I better get in uniform. The Council meets in twenty-five minutes.

    She sighed, swinging her feet over the edge and onto the warm flagstones. Thank kami for central heating.

    Taking her breastplate off its stand, she buckled it on and slipped her forearms through their bracers. Bells started ringing, and she unconsciously kept track of the pattern while hunting for her left sock – seven deep bongs and a single higher-pitched clang. It took her a few seconds (during which she found her sock) to realize what the bells meant.

    Her eyes widened. “I'm gonna be late!” My watch is that slow?!

    She hurriedly grabbed her dragonhide boots and shoved her feet into them, then paused just long enough to shrug on her navy blue duster before rushing out the door.

    Ra’Kiinar, Keldnaer, Casa di Pietra, the Hexagon, Aula de Speculum

    7:35 AM

    The door crashed open. Daine rushed through, slipped and managed to stop just shy of crashing into Brogan's chair.

    The Head of the War Council, Komunan Riizou, raised an eyebrow. “Veralidaine, how kind of you to join us.”

    Daine flushed scarlet, muttering, “Sorry, Councilor Riizou.” She picked herself up and took her seat beside her cousin, Saphiera.

    “Well, now that we're all present, we can-” Riizou paused. “Wait a minute. Where is Brogan?”

    Daine froze in the act of trying to find her pencil. Her fading blush came back full force. Unfortunately, Riizou noticed. Pinning her with a stare, he asked, “Veralidaine, you wouldn’t happen to know anything, would you?”

    Slowly straightening up from her pencil-hunting, she cast wildly about for an excuse. “Uh, well, I, um… Exploding eggs! No, wait, uh…”

    The door slammed open for the second time that morning. A man wearing the uniform of the Messengers’ Guild dashed through and skidded near-identically to Daine’s entrance. Perhaps there was something on the floor.

    “Honored Councilors, I bring news of a dragon using hostile flight patterns heading towards Skraal.”

    Daine grimaced. Skraal was both a magikal desert and on the edge of a real desert.

    “S-class, of course,” Riizou sighed. “Which element?”

    “Fire.”

    Riizou nodded, dismissing the messenger. There was a short pause.

    Saphiera sighed, pushed back her chair, and stood up. “I suppose you want Daine and me to go?”

    “If you two would be so kind,” Riizou replied, smiling.

    Daine breathed a sigh of relief and stood as well. Anything to get out of that meeting.

    “Ah,” Riizou called after them, “If you can find Brogan, take him along too. We may be able to negotiate with the dragon.”

    This earned an eye roll from both girls. We’re not stupid.

    The two walked in silence until they were sure they were out of earshot of the Aula. Then Saphiera looked at Daine with a smirk.

    “Sooo… Out of curiosity, just what did you do to him?”

    A giggle escaped her. “He’s in the entrance hall. Shall we make a detour so you can see for yourself?”

    Ra’Kiinar, Keldnaer, Casa de Pietra, Courts of Magic, Entrance Hall

    8:00 AM

    Brogan glared at Daine and Saphiera, both of whom were practically in hysterics.

    He wrung out a sleeve. “This is not funny.”

    This prompted the girls, who had just managed to recover, to burst out into another fit of laughter.

    Daine took a few deep breaths. “Seriously, though, there’s a fire dragon heading towards Skraal and Riizou asked us to bring you along. Said he thinks there’s a chance of negotiating with it.”

    Brogan shrugged. A few droplets fell to the floor. “A very small chance of the dragon actually having a good reason to attack and not being, you know, insane.”

    “Not necessarily,” Daine said before lightly swatting him on the back of the head. “Now go get changed, and make it quick.”

    An eye roll from Brogan. “What, do you think I want to stay wet?”

    “Well-” Daine began.

    He swatted her. “It was a rhetorical question!”

    “But you never change your tone, so I can’t tell-”

    “I do too change my tone!”

    “Nooo, you’re just as bad as-”

    “Never compare me to that sister-stealer!”

    “Quit interrupting me, hypocrite!”

    “Hey, that’s completely-”

    Crack! “Both of you shut up!”

    “Owww…” The arguing pair staggered away from each other; Saphiera had gotten fed up and pushed their heads together.

    Once her head had stopped throbbing, Daine glared at Saphiera. “What was that for?!”

    Saphiera’s stare could have frozen a hot spring. “Why do you think? Brogan, go get changed. Daine, grab your swords. Both of you will meet me at the D-Gate in thirty minutes. Or else.”

    “Yes ma’am!” the miscreants squeaked.

    Ra’Kiinar, Keldnaer, Casa de Pietra, Courts of Magic, Dimension Gate

    8:40 AM

    The D-Gate, Daine decided, could only be described as a large, square-ish, clunky, contraption. It was also old.

    It really was a pity that the Messengers’ Guild had a monopoly on D-Spheres. Those were so much easier to use.

    Daine sighed and checked her watch. Saphiera had said thirty minutes, and it was pushing thirty-five. Granted, she should have more patience, since she herself had a habit of being late…

    She was about to lean on the side of the D-Gate when she remembered what had happened last time, and opted for the wall instead.

    Five minutes later, Brogan rushed in with Saphiera on his heels. “Sorry, sorry!”

    A dismissive wave from Daine. “Apology accepted, now let’s get going. The D-Gate is already charged and locked onto our destination.”

    The other two exchanged looks of trepidation. Daine and the D-Gate had a History (although she was better with the controls than some).

    Saphiera let out a small sigh. “Alright, lead the way.”

    Daine grinned. “Oho, so you finally trust me?”

    Saphiera tried to smack her. She dodged.

    “Guys, we’re running out of time,” Brogan pointed out, tapping his watch.

    “Ah, right.” Saphiera pushed the small green button at the top of the control panel. (There was, in fact, a large red button that said ‘Do Not Push’, but it did absolutely nothing.)

    There was a sound vaguely reminiscent of fingernails on a chalkboard as the fabric of space ripped open. Beyond the tear was pure black, lit only by white globes of magik. These globes outlined a path, which the trio followed.

    Ra’Kiinar, 4.8 km Northwest of Skraal

    9:02 AM

    The screeching sound of space ripping was almost completely obscured by the roar of a large ball of fire.

    Saphiera, who had poked her head out first, fell flat to one side. Daine squeaked and followed her. Brogan took the fireball head-on. He came out relatively unscathed, though his clothes were a bit singed and there was a mutter that sounded suspiciously like “never going to get the knots out of my hair”.

    The dragon roared.

    “It's angry that it won't get roasted Brogan for dinner,” Daine whispered, smirking.

    The aforementioned boy was currently dodging furious blasts of dragonfyre while shouting phrases in Incendistraall, to little effect.

    “Wait,” Saphiera muttered. “Why is he dodging?”

    “Brogan may be fireproof, but his clothes are not,” Daine replied.

    “Hhh... Ah.”

    There were a few moments of silence between the two.

    Daine sighed. “This isn't working.” Standing up, she yelled to Brogan, “Oi! Either make eye contact and put the thing under, or let Saph and I take over!”

    “I'll take the former option, thank you very much!” he shouted back.

    “Softhearted idiot,” Daine muttered under her breath as she sat back down on the sand. “When will he learn that- whoa!”

    Brogan had slipped. The dragon was bearing down on him, clearly getting ready to unleash another blast of flame.

    Light glinted off a collar that had been hidden by the dragon's scales.

    The dragon's eyes locked with Brogan's.

    A beat.

    Then both combatants crashed to the ground with a double THUMP.

    Ra’Kiinar, 4.8 km Northwest of Skraal

    9:15 AM

    Daine blinked sand out of her eyes, then whistled. “Double K.O.”

    Saphiera raised an eyebrow. “Has this happened before?”

    Daine shrugged. “Not that I know of.”

    “Okaaaay.” Saph got to her feet. “Guess we should lug those two to back to the Casa, eh?”

    Silence.

    “Saphiera...” Daine tried and failed to find a polite way to break the news to her cousin. “Are you by any chance blind?”

    Said cousin gave her a strange look. “Nooo, I got all the sand out of my eyes... Why do you ask?”

    “Have you seen the size of that thing?! Brogan, maybe, but how the heck are we supposed to drag home a two thousand, four hundred kilogram dragon?!”

    “I...have no idea.”

    “My point exactly.”

    “So what are we gonna do?”

    “Well, I guess one of us could, y'know, run into town, find the Messengers' Guild outpost, and call for reinforcements.”

    Saphiera winced. “That'd be heck on your wallet though.”

    “Whoever said I'd be the one paying?” Daine replied, smirking.

    “I did.” Saphiera changed the subject. “Was it just me, or was the dragon wearing a collar?'

    “No, I saw it, too.” Daine bit her lip thoughtfully. She then stood up and proceeded to dust herself off.

    Meanwhile, Saphiera had wandered over to where the comatose bodies of Brogan and the dragon lay. Daine finished shaking the sand out of her clothes and followed.

    From a few feet away, it was easy to see that the dragon was indeed wearing a collar. It was made primarily of some sort of translucent gemstone, the color of which blended almost perfectly with the dragon's scales. The collar was also fairly old, judging by the number of small scratches that marred it's surface.

    Daine frowned and leaned closer, placing one of her hands against the dragon's neck for support. Something about the scratches was bothering her. They didn't look entirely random, and some scratches were deeper than others. Actually, the deeper scratches seemed to form a series of characters that looked familiar...

    Her breath caught. Runes.

    Runes, certainly, but carved with what intent? There really was only one way to find out for sure, tiring though it was.

    Her aura flared as she slipped into magesight.

    Where before the sand and sky, though monotonous, provided some color, now nearly everything was washed into grey-scale. It made Daine's eyes hurt; magesight normally made the world look far more colorful than it did using regular eyesight. (Things also had a tendency to sparkle.)

    She turned her gaze to the collar. It was a dark band of grey against the bright red of the dragon. Runes were indeed flickering across it's surface.

    Runes that were the color of dried blood: a color she associated with Lear in a bad mood.

    A flash of navy blue caught her eye. Saphiera was reaching out – it looked as though she was going to undo the clasps that held the collar to the dragon's neck.

    No!!

    Her hand shot out to grasp her cousin's wrist.

    Saphiera’s fingertips brushed against one of the glowing characters.

    Oh no...

    The runes stopped their dance. For less than a second the whole scene was a frozen tableau.

    Then countless runes moved, forming a circle around the rune Saph’s fingers had touched.

    Saphiera screamed.

    Daine gasped. The blue “fire” that surrounded Saph – her aura – was being sucked into the circle of runes. It was something that Daine had only seen in textbooks.

    Oh, she knew what she had to do. She just hoped she didn't a) put herself in a coma, b) kill herself, or c) otherwise seriously mess up.

    Taking a deep breath, she flung her self out of her body.

    Time slowed.

    The scene that had been grey-scale darkened to pitch black. At the same time her vision sharpened; she could see the tiny flecks of earth magik buried in the sand and the air magik floating around her. Nothing was truly magikless, after all.

    She turned her attention to the largest patch of color.

    The auras that surrounded Saph, Brogan, her body, and the dragon had solidified from fire into a tangled web of tiny threads. The runes had also thinned into a form that looked more like the scratches that were their physical manifestations on the collar. Their color, however, was twice as nausea-inducing.

    She turned to her right, focusing on Saphiera’s hand until each individual thread looked like a strand of yarn and a single scratch in the runes was the thickness of a small twig.

    Daine :grabbed: the rope that was being sucked into the rune and :pulled:. It took a few moments for the rope to start moving; when it did, Daine almost released her control in shock.

    The rope was glowing the same dark red as the runes. Slowly, however, the color was darkening to the more traditional black.

    How to deal with this? She didn't want to :touch: the corrupted magik, even if the chance of it being parasitic was small. But speaking of parasitic magik... She checked the strands. The black was definitely farther along than it had been.

    Just her luck. Not to mention they hadn't really covered this at the Academy...

    She really hoped her idea would work. Although it would probably hurt like a Vulpe even if everything turned out fine.

    Calming herself, she slowly drew a couple of the sparsely interspersed white threads in Saphiera’s aura towards her. Then she wove them in between the infected strands to serve as a barrier before starting to wind those same threads around the corrupted part as she drew it out of the runes.

    Finally, after what felt like hours, Saph's magik had all been drawn out and wrapped. Taking a deep “breath”, Daine :shoved: the bundle of magik back into Saphiera’s body.

    “Sighing” with relief, she merged back with her body and     yanked Saph's hand away from the collar, then shook her head and blinked rapidly. Wow, the sun was bright, and judging by its position, she had only been working for maybe 45 minutes, an hour tops.

    Daine yawned. So...tired...

    There was a quiet thump as she hit the sand, fast asleep.

    Ra'Kiinar, 4.8 km Northwest of Skraal

    1:22 PM

    Hnnn... Daine blinked sleepily, wondering why she was lying on sand, of all things.

    Oh. Right. Unconventional runework.

    “Well, finally.”

    Daine looked up to see Saphiera leaning over her. “I'm-” a yawn “- sorry if your hand hurts. It was a rush job.”

    “Eh,” Saphiera shrugged and flexed her hand. “It's fine now, if a bit stiff.”

    “Yeah. You're gonna have to fix it when we get back to the Casa, though. I think I may have put a few unnecessary tangles in while containing the corruption.”

    Saphiera nodded, then paused. “Wait. Did I hear you say containing?”

    “Yeah.”

    “The magik was a parasite-type?!”

    “Yup.”

    “Ugh.” Saphiera rubbed her temples. “That's going to be such a headache.”

    Daine nodded sympathetically, than stood up and shook sand out of her clothes for the second time that day. “So, what did I miss?”

    “Not much,” Saph replied. “Brogan's still unconscious, so of course so is the dragon. I've been mostly trying to get my hand to uncramp for the past couple of hours.”

    Daine winced. “Sorry.”

    “Eh, it's okay. You have any ideas for getting them to wake up?”

    “Well,” Daine said, chewing her lower lip, “From what I saw, all we need to do is break the collar. Thing is, we need a way of doing it without corrupting anything else.”

    “You have your swords, don’t you?”

    “Well, yeah, but even if we did use one of the blades as a focus, I’m still not quite in a condition to use magik. Are you?”

    Saphiera thought for a moment. “I think so. Can’t do anything with my right hand, of course, but I’ve had to work left-handed before. It shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

    “Oh good,” Daine sighed in relief. “That means all I have to do is stand here and be a power source. Do you want me to go back into magesight?”

    “Nah, you’re tired enough already. Just close your eyes.”

    Daine nodded and did as Saphiera told her.

    With her eyes closed, it was much easier to feel everyone’s auras. There was Saph’s right next to her, probing Daine’s aura until it curled around a strand of magik Daine somehow knew was white. The tugging sensation was a bit uncomfortable. She could still feel the magik Saphiera had pulled out, could feel Saph weaving it into a net to contain the stuff being pulled from the runes into Mizu’s blade.

    “Okay, cut the connection!” Saph told her. She obligingly pushed that particular strand of magik away from herself until it snapped, then opened her eyes.

    Saphiera was giving her a thumbs-up. “All clear!”

    “Awesome,” Daine replied. “Now we just have to wait for these two to wake up.”

    The girls didn’t have to wait long. Within a few minutes, both the dragon and Brogan were awake and moving.

    “Glad to see you up,” Daine told him.

    Brogan smiled. “Glad to be up. That was exhausting.”

    She raised an eyebrow, but didn’t ask.

    “Speaking of getting back,” Saphiera broke in, “Does anyone have any suggestions other than walking all the way to Skraal?”

    Daine reluctantly opened her mouth, but Brogan spoke first.

    “Ah, that’s right!” He smacked his forehead. “Guys, this-” he waved his hand toward the dragon, who had been looking at them with a rather amused expression “-is Pazha. She’s willing to take us to the Casa if we give her a turkey or two when we get there.”

    The girls looked at him a bit skeptically, but followed him in clambering on to the dragon’s back.

    They took off.

    “…When we get home, you are so giving me an explanation,” Daine said.

    Brogan just smiled. “Of course. So are you.”