He woke to a tremble, first; a distant shaking of stone and pebbles. Pale, glowing eyes opened, blinking blearily, as thin ears rotated.

What is that...?

Booker wasn't here--he was probably in his den. Khloros had been napping by the river, and--

Another rumble. The distant sounds of... of voices?

The foal stood unsteadily, fear gripping him. He hesitated.

A roar, a roar so powerful that even Polaris shook, despite the sound coming from someplace distant.

Khloros turned and began to make his way back to Booker's cave at a swift, nervous trot, his nerves singing of danger, eyes rolling wide. Before he could get there, though, the ground--the rock floor--suddenly erupted in a spray of boulders and stone, the vents that spouted air suddenly exploding in every direction.

With a squeal of terror Khloros wheeled, bolting back away in a clatter of hooves. Something huge surged up from behind him, and he barely had to turn his head to see the vast blackness, the glowing light, and the spreading obsidian wings.

He ran faster. He wasn't sure where he was going; he thought there was a tunnel up ahead, and--and suddenly there was a thunderous beating of wings, and the dragon had swept overhead, gouts of flame cutting off his escape. It wheeled, fire blasting over every exposed surface, and the foal could feel the searing heat burning him, drying his eyes and nostrils, hissing underfoot. With another fear-crazed screaming whinny, Khloros turned and bolted back the other way, his little foal's muscles bunching and churning to drive him to safety.

But there was no safety. Instead another blast of flame, and another--the dragon hadn't seen him, it seemed; it was merely setting the entire cave aflame. The blistering heat bit at his thin black coat, and he turned with another shriek, bolting full-speed back the way he'd come, galloping directly into Polaris's river with a crashing spray of cold water.

The cold engulfed him and he turned, standing chest-deep in the icy water--but the heat of the flames baking over the rock prevented him from returning to shore.

The foal stood, shivering in cold and in fear, staring up at the vast black beast as it settled, heavy wings beating, on the Spire.

How do I get out of here...?

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

There had been concern over the state of Polaris, unfortunately not caused by the man with the pointed face and even he, the greatest of all gembounds, had been fearful of venturing into the foreboding area. Where previously he would stride in with confidence, as he was so caught up in his own ego he forgot the fact he was one of the smallest creatures in the cave, he now skulked along the edges as his kind tended to do. Pressed up against the walls, he was no where near any action but he felt in control being here. Not quite sure what to expect, he cast out his go to spell for situations like this...

...But it returned nothing and he actually felt his head throb from the effort. Over usage of the spell was probably not such a brilliant idea as he had a long way to go before becoming a master of the craft of magic. It was quiet, not unusual for Polaris but even the insignificant cricket beasts had silenced their songs. All was still. Fur prickling along his spine, Louie kept his ears hard forwards as he strained for any noise. What came next shook him to his core and he felt his confidence waver as his heart sank to the bottom of his paws.

'This is fucking bullshit,' tail tucked, he kept his front end raised and chest puffed out, he attempted to keep moving but rocks were sent tumbling to earth, missing him by whiskers and he took the opportunity to slink into their crevices once they had settled. A black shape rose from atop the ledge these granite pieces had come from and his eyes trailed it. A mixture of awe and horror crossed his face as the reptilian giant left its perch and began to belch out streams of liquid fire. There were cries of a creature now, squeals of horror and terror and he peered through a gap between two of the boulders and he watched as a starved foal struggled to get to the safety of the water.

No where was safe, and reflections of fire danced over Louie's amber eyes as he absorbed this spectacle. What the hell did this thing want and why was it burning up the entire area. There is no said "good bone" in Louie's body, but he felt pity for the creature stranded up to its chest in the river and he shook his head. Poor bastard was going to die. Raheerah settled on the Spire and Louie held his breath. If he wanted to get them both killed, he could run out and convince the foal child to follow him. If he wanted to get himself killed, he would try and draw attention away from the foal. If he wanted to get the foal killed, he would try and hallucinate the boy into walking into the direct line of sight of the dragon.

Pondering this decision, a chance for him to truly begin to show his tyranny, he watched as the dragon began to preen itself and his lip curled. If there was a cockier asshole than him he had certainly found it. Tail lashing, he looked on to Khloros as he waited for some dashing white knight to come and save the day. Maybe he could get them both killed?

What went through the pup's mind that decided it would be a good idea to run straight into the flames of Polaris? It is uncertain, but run right in is exactly what he did. He didn't feel particularly scared by the fire, but he wasn't happy to be there either.

It didn't take long for his paws to begin burning as he ran along Polaris, though upon looking down at them they didn't appear to be on fire, but the black fur on his toes had gone missing, showing scarlet skin under them, and a little bit on his shins were gone, too.

He chose to ignore it, but the pain got worse with every step. He paused to look around, and then stumbled forwards again. He couldn't see any sign of the Numbat, but he did see something else. A dragon. The painted dog decided to creep away from the dragon in a hope that he wouldn't be seen. He found, shortly later, a deathly-thin horse standing in a river.

Not even noticing the lurking evil-fox, Bones ran up to the edge of the river, very very quietly barking, that sounded more like 'boof' than an actual bark.



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Khloros was gazing up in frightened awe as the dragon settled on the spire. He was wondering what it was, and how he could possibly escape without burning alive; could he wait until the fire died down? Could he make a dash for it, perhaps, or try to sneak away?

A sudden movement to one side caught his eye and he jerked toward it, blinking and snorting softly, pricking up thin black ears.

To his utter shock there was a dog there. A pup, even--large, round-eared and stumbling. Were its paws burnt?

"Get in. The water is cool," Khloros insisted softly. Whatever else might happen, surely they could best ponder it--he and this new stranger--from the safety of the water.

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

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A small, dark shape shot upward through the hole the dragon had ripped in the floor. It spiralled up, and up, borne skyward by the heat until it bounced lightly off the roof of the cave. Maybe it had been noticed, or maybe not; it wouldn't know.

It was blind.

Dark felt fear grip him; he'd followed, instinct dragging him along into the hole to see where the dragon had gone, but instinct forgetting the crucial fact that he could not, in fact, see. He found himself slowly soaring around the ceiling, listening for any audio cues to aid him but finding only the soft cracking of stone and the roaring crackle of the flames.

Claws on rock.

Dragon turned sightless gem eyes toward the Spire, listening.

Screaming neigh. Snort. Head swivelled toward the river. Water.

He began to coast downward, trying to avoid the sounds of fire, aiming instead for the place where the water's edge seemed to quietly babble. A moment later he had tumbled to the rock, and picked himself up, several yards upstream of the eerie horse and the young painted dog pup. He couldn't hear either of them; he just fluffed his feathers as if yes, he had meant to land like this (he knew no other way). Then he took a couple quick hops until his own feet were in the water, and the searing heat had lessened. He turned to listen to the room, to try and get some idea of where, exactly, he was.

A soft voice somewhere close by had him turning, staring blindly toward Bones.

"Hello?" he asked, voice soft and hesitant.

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Head still ringing, intensified by the bright lights and roaring flames, Louie took a step back into the shadows, his face covered as he withdrew a breath. This was going to be fine, he hadn't been seen just yet and the others, well they were in the direct firing line of this beast. Not him. Turning his head, he looked back out the gap with one eye, but both widened as he saw two others join the foal in his struggle in the water. It was difficult to make out colours as the surroundings were bathed in orange and red, but he could see that one was avian and the other was some sort of quadruped.

So many now. Why they had been so stupid to put themselves in the middle of the room he wasn't sure. There may be water, but that was ignoring the fact the dragon also had a cumbersome set of jaws that could scoop each individual up and swallow them whole. Throat tightening, he was weighing up what he could do. Three lives was certainly a lot, enough to make him giddy but he had no means of doing anything when he was so far away. Quickly, he opted to weave his way through the dark edges towards the Spire. It hummed and glowed with obvious power, again accentuated by the beast that sat atop its peak. Not entirely sure what he was doing, why he was so stupid to even attempt this, he withdrew in a cluster of bacteria. To attempt to cause fungal hallucinations was definitely suicide, he felt he had a good hold on this particular magic and he waited...

...It came together and spread up the Spire with ease, he watched greedily as it climbed up towards the dragon before he slipped back into the shadows, keeping his eyes on those in the water. This particular form of bacteria would cause sinus irritation/bleeding if inhaled as well as severe skin irritation if gotten under the scales. Holding his breath, he waited for whatever consequence this would cause.

Upon his arrival at the spire, Raheerah landed upon the massive blue crystal and stretched his wings. The beast's titanic girth nearly completely engulfed the spire, his weight causing the spire to creak and groan - he was a massive shadow dwarfing the whole of the room, expansive wings extending outward from his sides like nefarious claws. Several tiny, pathetic creatures had screamed and scattered at his approach, to which the dragon responded by unhinging his jaw and pouring forth a wave of fire - everything before him caught ablaze, tongues of red and orange illuminating the room, contrasting the cool blue of the crystals. Magic crackled at his feet, but the electric feel of it failed to have any effect on the ancient monster. He'd heard of this place, but only heard; he had never been allowed to behold it with his own eyes.

Now there were no strings on him.

Now there was no ruler. No creator. No one to control him.

Raheerah parted his jaws and unleashed a shattering roar, the sound traveling and reverberating through the air, ear-splitting in volume - his dominion announced. The beast snorted and turned, balancing himself precariously on the spire as he surveyed the room. Those unwise enough to reveal themselves would be sent another wave of fire; his magic was hot enough to turn the ground to lava should it be in the direct stream of his heat. Boiling bile dribbled from his mouth as he scorched the room, over and over again, turning every inch of it to flame and magma.

A couple quiet voices. The dragon had barely heard them over the roar of his own flames, and his predatory orange eyes snapped towards the group of Gembounds hiding in the water - however, his attention quickly flickered back to one particular beast he had seen, just barely, approaching the spire. All it took was a single breath and he could feel it, magic ascending towards him. Raheerah's lips curled in a sneer as he isolated the fox, spying him through the dancing shadows - there was no where for him to hide in his approach, especially surrounded by luminous flames. "Wretched vermin!" The dragon boomed, flaring his wings out as he pointed his massive snout towards the fox. The bacteria shimmered and drifted around him, inevitably inhaled into his powerful lungs.

For a few seconds, they were hard at work imparting their disease upon the beast. He could feel the agitation on his skin and between his eyes, and with a beat of his powerful wings, he blew the cloud back towards the fox as well as the rest of the group. A snort exhaled from the beast's maw, superheated air roiling through the dragon's anatomy and scorching any foreign bodies - the dragon made of fire could not be subdued by any meager magic. Raheerah parted his jaws, turning his stomach and belching out a mouthful of magma-like vomit, spitting it at the tiny fox below him. It would come crashing down all around Louie, small specks landing in his fur and catching fire, leaving severe burns on his skin.

Louie is sustaining multiple small severe burns. Khloros, Bones and Dark are susceptible to infection from Louie's critical success Micro Cloud, and must roll Other to avoid infection.

Bones shook his head at the horse in the water, opening his mouth before the owl landed nearby. He blinked once, "We have to get out of here. Can you get out? Bird? Come here-- can you see?"

The dog didn't notice the cloud of infection; shifting weight from paw to paw. He noticed the dragon and winced - knowing whatever he aimed at was nothing more than a pile of ash, now. He turned his head to the horse. "The fire-thing is distracted. We gotta go, now!"

He knew that they were next. If they didn't move, they were going to be ash too.


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Khloros barely hesitated, nickering softly as he heard the wild dog's words. He blinked large, glowing pale eyes at him.

He wasn't sure who this stranger was, but he did understand that he was trying to help them to escape. He glanced at the strange bird that had plopped down without warning, then swiftly up to the spire, where the vast black beast was dripping coughing, bleeding fire down onto the ground below. He made his decision quickly, nodding to Bones.

"Show me the way," he said quickly, hoarsely, fear choking his words.

He could feel some strange tickle of enemy... something, as he went. Something that drifted into him, bouncing off of his own carried blend of inner death, something that--though it didn't make him sick--caused him to rather abruptly, rather loudly sneeze.

With a frightened glance at the dragon, and a worried look at Bones, he let out a soft, snorting cry.

"...Quick." he added, hoarsely, fear choking his words.

It didn't occur to him that the owl might be blind; instead he glanced back only quizzically as he lurched forward in a clumsy foal's gallop from the river's edge. "Come on, bird."

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

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The owl fluffed his feathers, turning wide eyes toward the voices. He was rather shocked by how close they were--he hadn't realized--and at the same time, relief flooded through him as he realized they weren't about to attack.

They sounded friendly enough. One was even asking him to follow. He didn't recognize their voices, either, nor the sound of this cave, the way it echoed and pulsed--though to be fair, it was also hissing with flickering flames. Almost obediently, he turned, hopping with wet feet and damped flight feathers toward the voices.

"Okay," he answered softly, taking his cue from their hushed tones.

He took two hopping jumps toward them, fluffing the water off of his wings, and then the horse sneezed.

And he sneezed, too. And again. Maybe it was the heat drying out his sinuses, but suddenly they felt like they were burning, aching, swelling. His skin felt hot, and began to itch. The owl turned and instinctively threw himself toward the water, shivering as the cold welled up around him, but it wasn't enough; it wouldn't break through the cover of his feathers. He flap-hopped back up again, damp and cool but still burning, still itching, and gasped at the others blindly. Hearing was dulling down, and he found that--unable to see and unable to hear very well, he was rather stuck in place. He sensed that there was no time to go into detail about any of this, but there was no way he was getting out of here on his own. He stared blindly at the others with his gem eyes, and made it as simple as he could.

"Help," he croaked.

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