One by one they broke away, choking on the fungus that littered their faces; one was faltering, even collapsing. The others could still breathe, and they had spent precious seconds tearing deeply at the softest parts of Tahi-shei, rending for his lifeblood.
If he died, if he fell into his stone, if he did not--they did not know: their minds were full now of colors and shadows, and even Mother behind them could not see through their devastated senses. They slashed at thin air, lifting into flight with horrid screeching, circling; they made only passing slashes at Tahi-shei.
One still lay deeply asleep.
The Dragonbats had performed their task admirably, regardless: Aethereal was well and truly gone, though whether the Witch of Winter would return to her remained to be seen. It was a shame, however. These had been a powerful, if short-lived, asset.
@James @Tahi-shei
Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:
James soared past her at some point and she raised her pace to match, leaping over James as he crumpled before the chrysalis; she dug claws into stone, perched at the top of the ametrine as she hissed to ward off dragonbats. They had nicked the stone and even James, but it was a good distraction for the snakes to each zip out and grab hold of one. Three for three. Their venom did not work very fast, by design, so the dragonbats joined their fellow on the ground; except while that one slept peacefully, these ones writhed against searing pain and wild hallucinations.
Isra hopped from the chrysalis with a loud thud, walking slowly over to the sleeping lesser to let all three snakes get a taste of that one. After a moment of watching the others flop and roll against the venom, her attention shifted to James. He was pretty fucked himself, if she had to be honest, but she was surprised how much grief could blind one to their own pain.
But he acted like Tahi—oooh, she had met that one—had died. A big paw shuffled the dying lessers away into a large pile, where she set fire to them with blue-black flame, much like her own, except its burn was cold and chaotic. Their cries were shrill and loud, but so had Tahi's been. Ugh. At least Cepheus could go back to being nice and quiet after this. Hopefully.
Eh. So this is what Dontacael had sent? The smell was rancid as they burned, a web-like crystalline structure fighting against the destitution of the bodies, but ultimately failed as they slowly became ash beneath the flames. Her attention returned to James, noting the mushrooms he had summoned around the chrysalis.
"So you guys are fighting Dontacael's Hive?" she asked casually, as if his boyfriend hadn't been mauled to shreds just now before their very eyes, ribbons of flesh slowly rotting into oil around them. She wondered if Dhracia knew he had infected the nest; well, probably... but still. Disgusting.
@James
"Mother...?" she echoed quietly, turning the word around in her head. Did he really call himself that? That was too rich. She hid her amusement as James continued the explanation, nodding to his information to show she was listening.
"Ah, the recent earthquake," she grumbled, remembering how unsettling it had been. Thankfully it was an easy cleanup. She did find it concerning that Dontacael seemed interested in overtaking the nest. Why this one, anyway? It was old and dead. Surely there were more active nests available. Or maybe that was why? Did he think nobody would notice? Did its recent activity attract him...?
As James stood, she almost turned to leave—she was done here, and there was nothing more they could do for the chrysalis—when he asked what she was. What creature was she? Oh, she was old and wise, was she? She'd smirk if she had the lips to.
"Valkhound," she answered, not knowing what else to say for that.
"And we are BA! Si! Ra!" hissed the snakes from behind her. Isra ignored them, but they felt the need to be included too.
"Who is Aethereal?" she asked when they were done. She didn't recognize the name.
@James
James explained Aethereal, but the only interesting part was that Dontacael had seemingly tried to hijack a Valkhound. He had a moment of thought, called the hellswan over, and then prepared to leave. As he took to the air and called down to her, she remained silent. Well, he could visit this side of the river as much as he wanted.
It was Ba, Si, and Ra who called after him: "HEY??" "YEAH NO PROBLEM!" "YOU'RE WELCOME, ASSHOLE."
The flames of her eyes raised slightly. Oh, they were upset.
"Let's go home then," she said to them gently as they hissed and spit after James. Yeah, a thank you would have been nice, but she'd remember this. James had been polite and respectful before. Maybe he had a lot on his mind? Hm. She turned and left the knoll behind, crossing back through the river, returning to the palace.
Exit Isra