#lorelocke

I fully finished my first comic page for LoreLocke and AAAA I'm so excited!!! I dunno what unlocked in my brain this past month but boy am I glad it did, I'm so looking forward to showing you all my baby girl.

“How are we all feeling?”

Ayers and Rahman blinked at Gwendolyne, the Jackals’ handler, as she swept into their room. It had been ten days since Chalce died. Ayers couldn’t speak for the others, but she didn’t care for the question, or the cheery tone in which Gwendolyne offered it. She couldn’t complain, though; Chalce had already demonstrated the consequences of contradicting one’s superiors in the Web.

Anaster reacted with more aplomb, fortunately, so Ayers didn’t have to force out a response. “We’re still reeling a bit, but we’re ready to serve.”

Gwendolyne nodded, assuming an attitude of sympathy. “We’ve been trying to give you three a bit of a break after that unpleasant business, but it’s time to move on now. Fortunately, I’ve brought someone with me to help you do that. Come on in, Swift.”

KAIDEN

Kaiden had no plans of being a mother this early, much less to more than 30 hatchlings, but it seems this is what fate has in store for her.

She once belonged to the decently-powerful Blackthorne Clan, which resided within the Tangled Wood. They normally kept to themselves and tried to keep out of trouble, so it was a shock when they were attacked suddenly by invading Beastclans and the aggressive packs of wolves who lived with them. And as if that weren't enough, almost immediately after, they were stricken with a mysterious sickness, leaving the majority of them dead.

Kaiden is the last living dragon with ties to the creators of the original Clan through blood; the creators were her parents, and they were lost one to the attacks, and one to the sickness. That being said, thanks to Clan tradition, she must now take up the mantle of being the leader of the Clan, which is not something she ever actually expected to do. And, she must care for the 30 plus hatchlings left behind, living while their families have died.

(Kaiden is a part of my lorelocke and this is my introductory series to the characters! Check out /tagged/lorelocke-intros/ on my blog if you want to see the rest of them.)

1/3 Adults

      - Mmh mh, two runestone, a charged tungsten and even some parts of coppercoil spiders, impressive! And you only did that in one go? Must have been pretty tiresome!

A jovial spiral was furiously typing on her keyboard, logging information at lightning speed. She seemed to be entering data regarding Boltshaft’s hoard. Boltshaft was a small company, one of the many that was operating in the Shifting Expanse. The narrow room was barren, save from the accountant’s office and her small, fake green plant.

Not long after Gwendolyne left, Swift looked at the old bloodstain on the floor, then at her fellow Jackals. She wasn’t particularly good at reading others’ emotions, but even she could tell that the bogsneak simmered with anger and resentment, and she thought she should probably deal with that before it became an issue. Unfortunately, her way of dealing with that was to lay a hand on Ayers’ shoulder and cheerfully pipe, “Is something wrong?” Ayers glared at her. “Yes, something is wrong. Something has been wrong.” “Ayers, we already went over this,” said the tundra, pushing his hair out of his face. Judging by the hair’s sheer mass, this was an eternal task. “There’s nothing further we can do for Chalce -- even mourning him too much puts us in danger. And his death isn’t Swift’s fault. She doesn’t deserve for you to take it out on her.” Ayers’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t disagree. Meanwhile, Swift parsed Anaster’s words and found one she didn’t understand. “Who’s Chalce?”

   “We’re going to die,” Ayers said calmly.

   Anaster gave her a somewhat sympathetic look, but his words weren’t exactly comforting: “Everyone dies eventually.”

   “Not everyone dies like that,” Ayers snapped, gesturing at the rather dingy rug that Jackal Pack’s landlord had thrown over the stubborn bloodstain that wouldn’t come out of the floorboards. “It’s not just the threats; I was fine with those. Well, not fine, but I understood them. Territory is territory, power is power. Break the rules and the rules break you. But that?” Another gesture at the bloodstain. “That’s different. Chalce didn’t die because he did something wrong; he died because Talise was on a power trip. And I don’t want to die to inflate someone’s ego.”

   “He and his sister attacked Talise,” Rahman rumbled. “You don’t think Talise had the right to strike back?”

   “Talise shouldn’t have even been here!” Ayers said. “We could have handled Filmarya; no one had to die -- ”

   “Careful,” Anaster said quietly. “I don’t think you want to question Talise’s actions too loudly.”

   “Why, are you a nark?” Ayers demanded.

TW: violence, murder, decapitation

Most business in Ravenbarrow happened at night; its inhabitants tended to sleep late. At least, that was what Ayers snapped out when Rahman and Anaster got up early and started making noise while she remained in bed. But soon after, as Chalce was putting his boots on, an urgent knock came at their door.

Ayers grumbled and sat up as Anaster opened the door -- and then a young pearlcatcher pushed past him, calling, “Chalce? Chalce?”

Chalce dropped his second boot. “Filmarya?”

The other pearlcatcher ran to him and threw her arms around his neck; for a second Rahman thought she was trying to strangle him before he recognized a tight hug. In the second before she buried her face in Chalce’s shoulder Rahman registered how disheveled and wild-eyed she was.

After a moment she pulled away, her furious expression at odds with her previous embrace. “How could you?”

“Um, what?” Chalce blinked, stared, and seemed to gather himself. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

“I’m not stupid, Chalce. I knew the money wasn’t legal, but I didn’t think you’d do something like this.” Filmarya might have been small for a pearlcatcher, and wearing a pink dress with little flowers embroidered on the hem, but she had a very intimidating glare. “You can’t just move to Ravenbarrow! Do you know how dangerous -- if the law catches you -- and Mother would just die of shame -- ”

“I’m doing this for you,” Chalce said, helplessly.

“And I’m telling you to come home!”