#nacadi

The wildclaw’s nostrils twitched, and she turned. Her eyes widened as she saw Sekai perched on one of the overgrown railroad ties, the lotus garland coiling around her chest still fresh, the lanterns still burning- it could have been the day they ran out to catch the train.

“Lady Sekai,” said Nacadi coolly, and the plump nocturne looked away, the slender golden chains draped around her wings swaying gently with the movement. 

“Nacadi.” Sekai sighed, not meeting Nacadi’s eyes, and the words tumbled out in a rush. “They caught me, after I left you there- but they’d already got you, and I barely have any magic. You were so much more valuable to them, and so-” she shrugged, and for the first time Nacadi noticed a dark splotch of dried blood across Sekai’s stomach. Perhaps it had not been there before.

Nacadi nodded slowly. “Be glad they didn’t take you back to the fortress,” she said, and turned to keep walking. With a flutter of wings, Sekai followed, and Nacadi wheeled to face her. A spark of power danced between the wildclaw’s fingers, and she bared her teeth. “What do you want?”

“I... I wanted to say I was sorry. Again.”

Turning away, Nacadi made a noncommittal noise. “I know. I know you’re sorry.” She stretched her wings and leapt into the air, flying in a slow circle in the air. There was a long silence as Sekai continued to sit on the rail, looking very small and confused.

Nacadi frowned and dropped to the ground again, crushing wildflowers under her curving claws. “Walk with me for a little while,” she said, and Sekai looked up. “Along the tracks,” added Nacadi unnecessarily, and turned without looking to see if the nocturne was following.

“Zephyr, don’t you recognize me?” Aslesa asked as she came closer to her mate. He lowered his head and took a step back, hissing. The paladin’s shoulders dropped slightly, and her next words were addressed to the Shade. “Leave him alone,” she growled. Zephyr struck out at her, his shadow-sticky claws striking for her eyes, and Aslesa dived onto the gritty earth of the floor and rolled out of the way. Zephyr’s talons struck the floor, but instead of striking again he sat back on his haunches, clawing at his head.

“Zephyr? Are you- can you hear me?” asked Aslesa hopefully- and then Zephyr’s head jerked up and his eyes rolled black, and the voice of the Shade spoke through him. 

G͘i͝v͘é͘ ͜u̧p,͠͠ ͞Pa҉̕la̴͞ḑ͟i̴͡͠n̛͘͟.̢̕ ͏̢͠H͏̨͟e̡͞ ҉i͡͠s̵̨ ̵̸g̢̢on͟é.

Aslesa faltered, her wings spreading indecisively. She stepped forwards, and the Shade snarled. “I will kill you,” she said quietly, with a sharp edge of danger in her voice.

Laughing, the Shade said, “N̛͘o͢,͢͡ ͢͢yo̸u͘͡ ͏w̢o҉̴̴n͠'̀͡t.”

“You’re right,” sighed Aslesa, and the sword fell from her claws. And before the Shade within Zephyr could react, she had crossed the gap between them in a swift movement and had wrapped her arms around him.

w̵̛͘h̷͞a͢͡t ̵̧͜a̵r͏e̶̴ ̛́҉y̶͝ǫu͡ ̨͢D̛O̷I̷N͞G? shrilled the Shade, its voice muffled by Aslesa’s wings as they wrapped around. It didn’t understand why it couldn’t move, why it was growing weaker and weaker like a trapped and fluttering moth in the paladin’s talons-

“I love you, Zephyr,” Aslesa said softly, and she began to sob into the other skydancer’s feathery shoulder.

“SEKAI,” shrieked Nacadi, tearing her jaws free of Aravir’s vines. Her eyes burned with hatred, and drops of sizzling Shade fell from her teeth. She lashed, trying to reach the translucent form of the glowing nocturne.

Sekai sighed, averting her eyes. “Nacadi, I’m- I’m sorry. I’m sorry for leaving you. I’m sorry for not coming back.”

As suddenly as she had began to thrash, Nacadi settled, and her eyes grew wide. Korst thought she saw tears welling in the wildclaw’s large brown eyes, and she tilted her head curiously, for the tears were black.

“n̨o ̶͝͏n͜o̶͢ n͞o͢͢,” hissed the Shade with what sounded like dismay or perhaps panic. The black tears poured down Nacadi’s face, faster and faster, and Sekai drew closer and leaned against the wildclaw’s shoulder. Where they hit the rocky cave floor, the tears sizzled and melted into shadow.

“The Shade is leaving her,” said Sekai softly. “It’s safe to free her now.”

Aravir nodded and twitched his claws, and the vines melted into dust and dried leaves that spun away on the drafts whistling through the destroyed tunnels. And then he and Korst looked past where Auster, free of darkness, was staggering to his feet with Tybal’s help, and they saw Aslesa, still holding onto Zephyr as though he were an anchor in stormy seas.

“Why are you crying?” asked Zephyr, blinking, and Aslesa pulled backwards with wide eyes. He stood in front of her, shuffling his claws awkwardly and trying to get a better look at her face.

“You’re- you’re all right!” Aslesa exclaimed with delight, and Zephyr nodded and smiled.

“Looks like it.” He looked around the ruins of the cave and whistled under his breath. His mouth cracked into a dazzling smile, but his eyes were weary as he murmured to Aslesa, “This’ll make for some interesting nightmares.”

“Incoming!” roared Radiance, her eyes lighting up like tiny burning suns. She coughed a beam of glowing fire into the face of a second Reaper as it hurtled around the corner, then leapt into the air to grab yet another out of the sky and snap its neck. The darkened Talonok gave a gargling screech as it fell from the nocturne’s talons and thudded onto the floor.

Aslesa summoned a small, spinning ball of energy into one hand, illuminating the corridor with golden light. “It must be taking longer than we thought for Aravir to break open the main passage,” she said. “I’m sure they’ll be here soon, though.”

Suddenly, there was a high screech from the tunnels, and a whole flock of Reapers burst into the open in a flurry of dark wings and slime-dripping beaks and scaly, lashing claws. Aslesa roared, her sword dancing between the monsters, and shook their clinging talons off of her wings. Within seconds, she had cleared a circle around herself, and charged into the swarm to find her friends.

Radiance closed her eyes as the Reapers swarmed her, and focused on spreading the energy from her core out to her scales. Through her closed eyelids, she could see the light building under her skin, and as the Reapers struck against her their wings and beaks turned to ash. She expelled the energy in a blinding flash of light, and searing heat swept through the tunnel.

Auster felt the blast, and the last few Talonok clawing at his wings swept away into the darkness. Breathing hard, he blinked to clear the afterimage of Radiance’s light burst from his eyes. The small nocturne was on the tunnel floor, coughing sizzling drops of light from her throat, while Aslesa leaned against the wall, panting.

“Where’s Zephyr?” he asked.

Aslesa sprang to her feet, looking around wildly, and at the same moment the walls of the tunnel burst open and light filtered in.

“Sorry we’re late,” said Korst with a small smile as she stepped into the tunnel. Blood was running down her face from a deep gash over one eye. Aravir and Tybal, just behind her, were equally battered. “Had a bit of trouble with some shadetouched Talonok.” She paused, looking over the wide-eyed dragons. “What’s wrong?”

“Zephyr’s missing,” Auster answered.

Panting, Zephyr tried to struggle to his feet only to find a blade at his throat. He blinked and twisted his neck, looking down at the tip of the scythe brushing his feathers. You’re dreaming, he told himself fiercely. Wake up wake up wake-

“Good evening, Zephyr,” said a childish voice from somewhere above him with a high laugh. “What lovely feathers,” it continued. Zephyr thought the accent sounded almost like the voice of the odd nocturne Sekai- there was almost an archaic sound to it. 

“I’ve always liked feathers,” continued the voice, and a candle flared above him. In the flickering light, he saw a young wildclaw with glassy yellow-brown eyes and an emaciated figure, holding the candle in a scarred and sticklike hand. Her mouth opened, and darkness flowed over the minstrel, enveloping him in a sticky shadow.

Current Status:

Team Paladin

Korst (injured)

Aslesa

Radiance (uninjured but exhausted)

Tybal (injured)

Auster 

Aravir (injured)

The Shade

Nacadi

Zephyr (vessel)

Good, thinks the Shade as the memories swirl away. They carry echoes of words with them, and brief images flicker in silhouette on the walls of the cave. 

The beautiful nocturne, draped with sparkling lanterns and flowers, is the first target of the attackers. As their dark claws reach out for her, runes blaze through the air and the mages pull back, their eyes dark and filled with rage. One by one, their heads turn to where a slender wildclaw stands at the back of the train car, her shaking arms outstretched and glowing with power...

...”You’ll be fine,” shouts back the nocturne, ignoring the frantic pleading of the wildclaw girl. She tosses her head and leaps out of the train car, leaving Nacadi to fight off the looming shade-mages. One of the mages dodges a blast of energy from Nacadi’s open jaws and grabs her neck, and the world starts to blur...

...hindered by the weight of the lanterns, the nocturne is quickly caught. The shade-mages sigh as they find that she is useless, almost devoid of magic. Her bones, though, those may yet be of use...

Nacadi screams again as her eyes roll back into place, and this time the screech has meaning. One by one, the shade-corrupted Talonok alight at her side, and she twists a claw. Spreading their wings, her servants launch themselves into the passages.

A noise echoes like thunder, and Nacadi’s head jerks up as dust falls onto her feathers. She rushes to the scrying pool and sees that vines have grown between the walls of her beautiful caverns, pulling them apart piece by piece. In a little more time, the openings will be wide enough for the ridgeback and guardian to force their way through- but there is no time left. The Reapers are coming, and Nacadi smiles grimly.

Current Status:

Team Paladin

Korst (outside the caves)

Aslesa (in the caves)

Radiance (in the caves)

Zephyr (healer, in the caves)

Tybal (outside the caves)

Auster (in the caves)

Aravir (defense, outside the caves)

The Shade

Nacadi

The Reapers

Observers

Ixazaluoh (Valley)

Madhu (Valley)

Treacle (Valley)

Sacred (Location Unknown)

“You look lovely, Lady Sekai,” said a gentle child’s voice from behind her, and Sekai turned to see her young wildclaw handmaiden standing in the arch of the doorway, draped in silks that glimmered like the starry sky.

“Thank you,” replied the nocturne with a smile. “Shall we go and catch the train?” She stole another look at herself as she left the room, stepping into the brightly torchlit tunnel outside. Others of her friends were already hurrying through the tapestry-draped corridors, waving at her to come on, come on, join the fun! Hurry, Sekai! I can hear the train coming! Oh, I’m so excited!

Sekai laughed and shivered with anticipation as she rushed after them, careful not to snag her perfect lantern hangings on her tail or talons. Her handmaiden- what was the girl’s name? It wouldn’t do to forget it, but Sekai just couldn’t think of a good way to ask- hurried after her, and piped up, “Lady Sekai?”

“Yes?” asked Sekai sweetly. She caught her breath as she turned to see the glittering silks wrapped around the handmaiden’s head and wings (make yourself presentable, she had said, you can look through my wardrobe and pick something out.) With her warm coloring and slightly stocky build, Sekai had never been able to pull off those gorgeous silks, but they looked gorgeous on the wildclaw girl.

“You should take these,” said the handmaiden, holding out a wreath of softly glowing lotus blossoms. “They’ll make you look different, see, stand out a little. Maybe catch the prince’s eye?”

With a smile, Sekai took the wreath from the younger dragon’s curving talons and draped it over her head. “Thank you-” she said, hoping it wasn’t obvious that she had forgotten the wildclaw’s name.

“The train’s almost here,” said the handmaiden- what was her name, her name, it started with an N-

The whistle of the beribboned steam train sweeping into the valley cut off Sekai’s train of thought, and she clapped her front paws with delight. “We should hurry and catch up,” she said. “Everyone else is ahead of us!”

Her wings delicately spread, lanterns swinging and clinking in the twilight, the nocturne hurried towards the train station, and the diminutive wildclaw trotted after her. They never made it.

(AN: Vague ending is vague, and also I forgot that Nocs can’t see their reflections. Ignore that small mistake~ also, Sekai was a bit ditzy back when she was alive. She’s much... calmer... now. 

“I know you’re in there,” Korst begins- casually enough, but with a dangerous edge to her voice. “You’ve been poisoning those unicorns, haven’t you?”

There is no answer, and Korst roars into the darkness, her wings spread and her claws unsheathed. Finally, a cold, high laugh echoes out of the cave, and a childlike, singsong voice answers.

“What’s it to you? You’re no hero, you’re no knight- all you do is stay alive, grab an extra coin or two, sleep in silks for the night- what do you have to do with me?”

Korst grits her teeth. She’s forgotten how irritating this creature in the caves is, and how eerily childish it sounds. She wonders how long the darkness has been in this one- a century? an age?

“I protect this valley now,” she growls. In the darkness, a pair of golden-brown eyes seem to flash and disappear, and the shadows shift and bulge. “If you escape, everything I’ve worked for turns to ash.”

There is a pause, and the creature replies, “Oh, but I can make deals, I can make promises, I can swear by the Shade and the First Four and all the Eleven, everything I will ever become- I could promise you your safety, I could promise you your friends, I could promise everlasting life to that guardian who can’t sleep from the fear of death...you could consider it a sort of payment. After all, you deal in payment, don’t you, mercenary?”

Korst had come to threaten this creature, but instead she is powerless against its hidden malice and mocking voice. So she does the only thing she can do- she laughs. She laughs bold and loud, and the creature hisses and vanishes again, deep into the crumbling, shadowy tunnels.