On the world of Emphyralis, was a continent called Silubra. On the continent of Silubra was the capital city called Silvermoon. There was a magnificent Keep in Silvermoon called Silvermoon Keep. Britiana Silvermoon was not in the Keep on this rather drizzly day. It was the fourth month of the year, Arbuna. Arbuna was in the mid-spring month, so they saw a lot of rain this time of year.
Silubra was the central continent, and Silvermoon was approximately in the middle of it, so the climate was very temperate. They were backed by the Eternal Mountains, which also kept the temperatures from getting too warm. With the rain, it could actually be a little chilly for some people.
In regards to the weather, Britiana wore a plush, waterproof coat with a hood over her silver blond hair as she walked down the street. She didn't walk far before entering the open gate of a large, stately inn. Once overgrown gardens were now neatly growing with lovely spring flowers. She took a moment to admire the flowers, getting her mood under control.
It was late in the day; nearly 5 afternoon. She'd spent most of the day testifying in front of the Upper Parliament.
She frowned. It was ridiculous. It had been a month. A month!
Britiana and her older twin brother both had to testify today. After testifying, Darius sent for one of his guard friends and went to spar with him. Britiana wanted to walk to clear her head.
What were they testifying about?
The witchborn.
They had a plan in place to go to Thale after they rested. It was supposed to take no longer than a week to get started. After staying in Thale to paint the transfer spell array, which they'd finally decided to give a proper name to. They decided to call it the Bridging Array. Right now it functionally bridged two points in time-space, allowing for instantaneous travel as long as there was enough power.
They'd already created a point in Silvermoon. All that was left was traveling to Thale. From Thale they would go to New Bienskurr, the Earthborne settlement in the Eternal Mountains and start the next phase.
But, noooo. That's not what happened. For some reason, Ministers in all Lower Parliaments and Upper Parliament around the world began voicing their "concerns" about allowing refugees into Emphyralis again.
It took a month for the Dracosenati to organize meetings and hold hearings about this matter. All the arguments inevitably circled back to the Dragon Hunters. Conservatives were pointing out their open trade policies from before the Hunter Wars is what led to the tragedy that followed.
Progressives point to the latest group of refugees, the Earthborne, as signs that their fears are overrated. They brought up thousands of years worth of precedent of trade between worlds.
Conservatives then suggested not only not allowing them to learn Emphyrallian magic, but also suggesting they bind their powers. This caused outrage, not only among progressives, but citizens. When they passed a proposal for this, Chrystianna immediately used her power of Grand Duchess to convene the Upper Parliament for an emergency session. As Grand Duchess, she couldn't directly testify, but the Prime Minister was on her side and immediately built a case to refute this ridiculous proposal in an open hearing.
Not only were precedents read into record, but testimonials from the Crowleys and other witchborn were given for the public to hear about their situation. Raven Darovan and Shoshanna Daratranzanoff Morningstorme also testified. They were Mages and instrumental members of the witchborn operation.
Darius and Britiana gave testimony that day. It was the last day.
With a sigh, Britiana walked through the door of Crowley House and into the lobby. She gave a friendly smile to the person behind the front desk. Crowley House wasn't open for guests to stay in rooms, but the taproom was open to the public because the witchborn were selling their native foods from Terranthea.
It was well after lunch, but it wasn't quite lunchtime yet. The person behind the front desk recognized her. There were certain people that were always welcome in the taproom. Britiana was one of them. "Lady Britiana," she greeted. She was a witchborn, but she'd adopted the local custom of calling "lord" and "lady" when it was proper.
Britiana took a minute to take off her coat and put it away. She brushed her hair back behind her shoulders. She made a consternated face when she had to detangle a strand of hair from an earring in her long pointed ear.
The witchborn watched with a neutral face, but she always thought Lady Britiana was cute sometimes. At first glance she seemed elegant and ethereal with her silvery-blond hair, warm peachy skin, and violet eyes. She was usually attired in dresses with a Skirt of Many Folds. But then she had moments like that. Not clumsy. Just cute sometimes.
Once sorted out, she walked into the tapproom with a flounce of her skirt. The taproom was already starting to get busy. She scanned the room, not seeing many familiar faces. She went to the bar and smiled at the person manning it. She ordered what she wanted and told them she'd be in the library.
The library was across the lobby from the taproom. It was where the guards, staff, Crowleys, and a few other people usually stayed so as not to take space from paying customers.
She crossed the lobby and entered the library. As it wasn't quite time for shift change yet, some guards and staff were already eating. She didn't see any of her friends, but she grinned slightly and went and sat down in front of two Silvermoon guards.
They were nearly identical with pale gray skin, solid black eyes with no whites, and long black hair. They had multi-pointed ears and no discernible gender. "My lady," Noxie One and Noxie Two intoned together.
"Hope you don't mind if I join you," she said with a smile.
The Noxies shook their heads. If her ladyship could stand to eat with them, they wouldn't chase her away. She was one of the few whom they did not unnerve. Noxies were Dark Elementals. They were created from the forces of nature during the formation of Emphyralis. There was something that put most people off around forces of Darkness.
They also tended to eat all their food raw. Fruits, vegetables, and animal meat. Not bloody and with skin still attached or anything. Just raw. Lately, they switched to eating raw fish dishes that some witchborn had introduced to them. Since other people also ate these, they didn't stand out so much, and the variety of preparations really appealed to the Noxies. Their birthplace was near a river and they loved fish.
Noxie Two liked the fish, rice, and seaweed with spicy green sauce. Noxie One liked the thinly sliced whole fish. They also liked the chopsticks to eat them with.
They noticed her watching them with her cheeks propped in her hand. "Is there something, my lady?" they asked.
"Are you siblings?" she asked. Her education was extensive, but her experience was limited.
They nodded. "We were born of the same parents," they answered in unisom once again.
"No need for names among your own kind?" she asked.
They shook their heads. "No need for verbalization."
"No need for identity. What about self?" she asked curiously.
"We have self," Noxie One said.
"We are individuals," Noxie Two added.
She tilted her head. "Then we should give you names," she stated. "Noxie One and Noxie Two seem impersonal and rude," she said.
They paused and glanced at each other. They'd realized this long ago that some said these names without respect. "Although we have self and are individual, Elementals rarely leave on their own unless they have fate with another," Noxie One started.
"When they have fate, they are given a name and become what they prefer," Noxie Two explained.
She was surprised. "You mean male or female?" she asked. "I never thought about that part. I wasn't trying to pry. Your reproduction practice is your own," she said, assuring them she wasn't being nosy about that.
The Noxies smiled slightly. "It's no secret. We become what they prefer and when it's time," Noxie One started.
"We give a bit of ourselves to nourish offspring either in our own bodies or the others," Noxie Two added.
"Elementals do the same amongst each other."
"We are made with the essence of each parent."
"Nourished in each of their bodies."
Britiana was fascinated. "So no Elemental picks their own name, even when they have to travel?" she asked. She knew that Elementals weren't completely insular. They had dealings with other races. They had representatives in Parliament.
"Perhaps others, but no Noxie that we know," they said in unison again.
"If someone gives you a name it's not like a marriage proposal or anything, right?" she asked.
They shook their heads. "Nothing so serious," they said. "We would be honored if Lady Britiana wished to bestow names upon us," they added.
Britiana smiled. "Then I'll think about it. I know you said you become what another prefers, but it's fate, right? Fate wouldn't put you with someone who would make you something you don't want to be. Do you have your own preferences?" she asked. "At least names wise," she added.
The Noxies feel silent contemplatively. "We will also think about it," they said.
"Then it's a deal. I'll give you names before we go to Thale, that way it'll be on your identity tokens," she declared.
Feeling touched, they thanked her. The conversation came to a halt when a server brought her food for her.
--
In contrast to his sister who sought food and the company of friends, Darius Silvermoon wanted to work out his own frustrations physically. Over the past month, he'd been training with the guards, learning how everything worked, what he was lacking in, and where he might be able to improve.
He also consulted Zane Darkwynde of Myrkir and Roark Starshadow. Since the trip to Thale had been postponed, he spent a week in Starshadow at their invitation. It was not a fun week but he learned a lot. It would take time for him to be prepared to take over the military, but he already had some ideas he wanted to implement.
For now, he'd concentrate on the immediate tasks. Going to Thale and then Cruinog, the Earthborne homeworld.
The Morningstars' First Knight Residence located within the Keep had a private training ground. He was his father's heir, but for now he lived with his mother and sister in the Ducal Residence. When he was ready to start a family, he would move to the First Knight Residence.
Despite the drizzle he stood in the middle of the training ground without any protective clothing. This whole political rigmarole was much better left to women. He was more than happy to swing his sword around. He was just aggravated on his mother's behalf.
A lot of nonsense. The whole thing was just rabble-rousing. The laws of Emphyralis was on their side. Asylum seekers were always welcome on Emphyralis. That his mother even called a hearing was just a show. Grand Duchess didn't have a lot of arbitrary power, but dismissing an unconstitutional proposal to strip an entire race of their rights and dignity of persons was well within her ability.
He pushed his wet, slightly too long black hair away from his slightly tanned face. Finally he cast a spell to dry himself and put a small water shield around himself. His sister often teased him about his low tier as a mage but he knew a wide variety of practical spells.
Movement on the empty residence grounds was easily detected. Only the occasional groundskeeper came to maintain the property. He turned when two young men approached him. They were already mature Dragons, but only a decade or less older than him. They were cousins.
Lazarus Darkfrost was the older of the two. He is a Sapphire-Onyx hybrid. Amadeus Darkmyst was three or so years younger, and an Amethyst-Onyx hybrid. They were originally from the town of Eventide on the northern coast of Silubra. Lazarus's father and Amadeus' mother were Onyx Dragons who'd migrated to Silubra after they lost their entire family to the Plague when they were young. They weren't a large or powerful family, so they decided a fresh start was in order.
Lazarus's father joined the Silubran military when he came of age. His Sapphire mother was a Justice in Eventide. Amadeus' mother married the younger brother of Eventide's matriarch. Eventide was a well-known Gemcalling and Patternweaving family, but he had no interest in the family business. Lazarus first joined the military when he came of age, and Amadeus joined later.
The two made a good team. Amadeus was an Umbrakinetic with a little Gemcalling ability. His main asset was his quick mind. Darius had been surprised by his quick thinking and intuitive conclusions. Lazarus was Umbrakinetic with some Sonpathic abilities. He was good at investigating, tracking, and analyzing.
The two, despite being cousins, didn't look much alike except similar body types and characteristic Onyx black hair. Lazarus was more pale with blue eyes like his Sapphire mother with defined facial features. Amadeus had slightly flatter features, hooded purple eyes, and a deeper, slightly olive skin tone.
Originally, he'd put them in charge of the witchborn operation. Even though the Parliamentarians were making a ruckus, the rescue operation hadn't stopped. After a month, the number of witchborn coming through had tapered off to perhaps one a day. There was about a week when one or two people a day was normal. After about two weeks, witchborn were fleeing Terranthea in droves. Nearly a hundred people a day came through for almost two solid weeks.
During that time, Roark Starshdow volunteered to help out. He wouldn't admit he was checking in Troi Darkwynde, the underage son of the Starshadow High Sentinel, Zane Darkwynde. He was also a little jealous of his younger sisters' gaming devices and wanted to find one himself. He'd learned all the ins and outs from the two cousins, and when they were put on call for testimony, he completely took over the task with Troi.
This was fine with Darius. He wanted to take them with him to Cruinog, if not Thale. The delay actually helped. He could leave it in Roark's hands until they returned.
Darius had given them time off while they waited to be called to testify, which they did yesterday. He didn't put them back on duty. He was ready to go to Thale now that'd all testified. The plans were already in place. Everyone was ready. They were just waiting for the testimonies to end.
Darius gestured to them. He was pleased to see they'd come ready to spar, wearing practice uniforms and light armor. It wouldn't be their first time sparring. Even though he'd been a mercenary since he was fifteen or sixteen on Thelessia, the planet he and his sister were raised on, these two had been soldiers for twice that long. He wasn't even twenty-two yet. He knew he lacked a lot of experience. The more he encountered, the more experience he gained. He hoped to be able to take on the mantle of First Knight of Silvermoon within the next ten years.
After more than a month, they got along more and more. "One at a time, or free for all?" Lazarus asked.
"Blades or fists?" Amadeus additionally queried.
"Claws?" Lazarus tilted his head.
Amadeus grunted. He was salty he missed the chance to fight against giant hellhounds on Terranthea. If he had to hear that shorty Gorka Deepheart brag about his axe skills one more time, he swore to Aecili... Ah, curse his brain and organizational and logistical skills.
Lazarus chuckled, reading his expression.
"Claws are fine," Darius said. Stretching all his muscles would be a fine way to relieve the built up stress of the past few weeks. Although he had plenty of training with his humanoid body, he lacked experience in combat with his Dragon form. After all, he'd only been in his Changing Age for a little over a year.
He tilted his neck and let his neck crack. "Free for all." He grinned slightly and began backing up. He created a void and stepped into it, coming out at the edge of the training ground. He was getting better at Voidwalking.
Lazarus and Amadeus also began creating space. They stepped into the shadows. They were old hands at Shadowwalking. They reappeared equidistant from each other and Darius. The three men's bodies began to distort. Although the process was slightly different for each of them, they grew scales, claws, sprouted membranous wines, grew long tails and snouts. Their bodies expanded as they finished their transformations. They were designed to be perfect beings with front-facing eyes, articulate claws capable of grabbing with something similar to a proto-thumb, and powerful bodies.
Each Dragon had slight differences aside from color. Darius was a Silver Dragon whose brushed metallic scales had a slightly blue hue. His eyes also remained blue. When he spread his wings, it was only then that the membranes seemed to shimmer with an almost lavender glow. His body was svelte and longer legs seemingly built more for agility than brute strength like a Serval cat. He was a young Dragon, only just in his Changing Age. He was around twenty feet tall on all fours, forty feet from snout to tail tip, with a wing span of about the same length.
Lazarus was a Sapphire with very dark scales that were almost black at the roots. Even the phalanges of his wings seemed to be more black than blue, but when the light hit his membranes, they glowed a deep blue. His eyes were blue. His body favored his Onyx form, built for stealth and bursting power in the panther-like sinewy body, sleek yet robust. He wasn't much bigger than Darius, maybe a foot all around because he was still a young Dragon.
Amadeus was Amethyst, his scales were dark purple, but exceptionally luminescent. When the light shone through his wing membranes, they looked like a twilight sky. He retained his purple eyes. His body type favored his Amethyst side, slightly longer, strong, lean, and even more agile than Silver Dragons. He was a similar size as Darius.
The three Dragons paced around the periphery of the training ground, looking at each other, heads lowered, shoulders tensed, tails swinging. Darius made the first move, bounding toward the center of the training ground. Lazarus and Amadeus began moving as well, claws at the ready as they lept toward each other.
--