ORIGIN

He heard his name, called from the distance. Ahh--Hera, he thought, and was pleased; it did not sound urgent, and he was glad to hear the eagle's voice. Magicka flared, ghostly red wings unfurling from his back, and a moment later he was in awkward vertical flight.

The wings--and horns curling out from his skull--drifted with strange black and red magic; as he swept into a nearby clearing he was visible for a moment quite clearly before spotting the eagle's sparkling light.

"HERA!" he boomed, calling out to her. "It is good to see you--I am here. Where do you want to talk?" He waited, hovering; if she simply wanted to speak here, he'd land in the muck and wait, but maybe she had something else in mind.

And then could come the pleasantries--the "how are yous" and so on; but his wings took effort to maintain, and he wanted to be sure he could release them before entering conversation.

He followed, landing just as the magic faltered and faded, and the wings vanished even before fully stowing away. The alligator was left sprawled across the high-up stone, and a glance around left him with a wave of nostalgia. "I used to climb up these, as a hatchling, and sun myself closer to the orbs. Only dry place in Cetus," he remarked, and then offered a quiet bass laugh.

Hera seemed to have gained a new spark--or perhaps regained her old. The trip had done her good, he noted. Or was it a facade, to cover her ongoing fear? Had it grown too severe-? She never struck me as that sort, but I will wait and see, he decided. Her abrupt, quiet 'I think I'm better now,' was almost a reassurance--she wasn't hiding her issues, then. But the cheer seemed almost forced, or maybe that was the terrible nature of her joke; certainly once she continued she seemed more honestly happy than she had been.

Close analysis over, Dragon offered, at first, a grunt. "Leo, yes, I know it. I was aiding in the, ah, enchanting--they required those to push water-breathing magic into objects. I don't know why, yet," he added, "but I do intend to keep watch on it." It was was always important for Dragon to monitor the goings-on of the caves, that much was for certain. "As for the rest--nothing has changed, much. They rest. They hide. They sleep or they eat." A grunt, a dark laugh. "They are lazy children, but they live. I have... plans, I would like to begin with, but I need more of them. More of us. I need one of us who can shape earth. You have wings--better than my own; do you think you could keep your eyes out for such a one, in your travels? I will tell you about this idea I have, if you are interested."

Dragon paused, then, studying the eagle closely. All the changes she had undergone--the brutality of the trials, the hooked talons and strange ears, the glowing eyes--she was still Hera, and still returned to him, here in Cetus. For a moment, he felt... something, something half-unfamiliar to his reptilian mind. Sympathy? Grief? Guilt? He wasn't sure, but after a brief hesitation he spoke again--wishing, somehow, that he could have done more for her than simply send her off somewhere brighter. "I am glad you are back, Hera, and that you seem well. That Giggle was useful to you," he added. "I was worried!"--and this, at least, was a little humorous but bluntly honest.

"Oh, they do. With one called 'Farina.' I have not heard of it," he added, and he still had no idea that he'd once had rather a close encounter with that particular Master. A very close call, in fact. "I will find out what they are doing, do not worry about it yourself. As for this plan; do you remember that I mentioned rocks, hiding us with rocks?"

He looked at Hera, a sly flicker to his gaze. "I would like to find someone we can trust, someone with the magic of rock and stone. Someone who can not only hide us with rocks, but carve us a new cave," he explained. "I know we will not be able to make a new Cetus--but I want somewhere large enough to survive in. But instead of only blocking off a bit of Cetus, I wish to make our own home, hidden--one that no one else knows about. I doubt it will stay secret for long, but long enough-? Maybe! For that, we need someone who can do it."

He considered, at her question. "Hm. Maybe those with the magic of light and water, as well... But they must be those that we can trust. We need more of us. You have travelled, of late; what's the status of the caves? What are the Bonebound like, and what are the rest of them up to? Is it busy, out there?" he asked.

"Thank you," he rumbled, to the first; but her question had him thinking, drawing his claws along the rock as he pondered it.

He hadn't asked much over the mechanics of enchanting--but at least it seemed straightforward enough.

"From what I can tell," he began, more slowly, "it works like this: magic is used to... prime an object, and then another magic is imbued into it. That second magic--stays, as though someone is using it constantly. So, if I use my magic that allows me to breathe underwater--which is what we were doing--then the object should allow its wearer to breathe underwater, too."

The alligator paused, thoughtfully, rumbling deep in his throat for a minute. "I wish that I knew the magic to open an object to hold this magic! This--enchantment. It has much potential; I do not know what sorts of magic you could apply, but I can imagine how useful it could be," and there was a faintly mournful note in his voice.

"It would be uesful," Dragon agreed.

When Hera offered a banana, he snorted in mild amusement. There was a light flash, and a banana appeared; Dragon neatly snapped it in half with a loud clap of his jaws, gulping down his half. The wings--already having faded a few moments back--were gradually replaced by a sparkle. He nudged the other half toward Hera. "We can share it," he answered in his rumble. "So; what did Giggle say? Was there anything of interest?"

The Bonebound had long been fascinating to Dragon. They, like the Children, kept (mostly quietly) to their own little section of the caves; they, like the Children, tended to turn up in moments of great need. They were less bold than the Seven, but less secretive in turn than the Children, and the groups had been mostly cooperative (and nearly clashed once or twice) throughout the years. Their leadership had come and gone, however, passed down through this Gembound and that. "So when you say the Bonebound have many members--is Aure still at their head?" he asked. He rather liked that one; young, but strong-minded, so it seemed. Though that hyena did always seem to be right at his shoulder--his mother, if Dragon wasn't mistaken.

He wondered, vaguely, how Serek was doing. Giggle's other son, he'd come to live with the Children for a time, but Dragon hadn't seen him in a bit. Hopefully, he was well; perhaps he'd returned to Canis.