Interviews with Outcasts
as recorded by Nocturnal, Clan Educator and Linguist
[find the other interviews here.]
A Moment of Despair
Amalthea and Lucien came home tired, and I felt terrible for waylaying them as soon as they entered our den. However, I had learned a great deal during their absence that needed to be passed on as quickly as possible. The poor matriarch’s frills drooped lower and lower as I told her all that had happened.
“I need to stop leaving,” she murmured as I finished.
“You’re allowed to take time to rest, Amalthea.” Lucien glowered at her from where she perched on her shoulder.
“This would suggest otherwise, friend.” She patted at his shoulder with a paw. “I should go see Petal before I retire for the evening.”
Lucien frowned. “That platform is barely big enough for me.”
Her frills clacked together. “Then stay on one of the trees nearby. I’m safe with the two of the--”
He cut her off. “Not if there is something up there with them!”
It had clearly been a long day for the pair. “Lucien. I’ll go with her. Whatever it is hasn’t hurt anybody yet.”
He sighed through his nose, then visibly forced himself to relax. “Fine. But I’m keeping close.” He offered a paw out to Amalthea to pass her off to me. She stepped into his palm, then stumbled.
“Oh.” Amalthea righted herself, her good wing spreading awkwardly for balance.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
“Y-yes. Just tired.” She settled in among my shoulder blades, and Lucien and I began our walk to the observatory. When we reached the ramp, he lifted into the air, leaving me clinging to the wood walkway and sheltering the matriarch with a wing to protect her from the downdraft from his ascent. The tree he settled atop creaked under the weight of him and his armor.
It did feel safer to have him watching over us as I made the climb. Intellectually I knew that whatever was attached to Petal would need to be dealt with through magic, but there was still a lot to be said for having a large, strong partner nearby.
When we arrived, Myriad was casting her bone runes and frowning deeply. Amalthea noticed at once and asked me to make my way over to her.
“What are you seeing?”
Myriad shook her head. “Just change. Over and over, change. My cards are reading gibberish, and the runes won’t explain.”
Amalthea’s frills remained still. “I would expect they’re talking about the increased power from the ley line.”
Myriad’s head shook again. “This is something upcoming. Very soon.”
My vision flickered, the stars alternately burning bright and going dark. Amalthea must have seen it, as well, because her frills went flat against her neck.
Petal kept her eyes on the sky. I looked to Lucien, who spread his wings wide and prepared to spring should it be needed. But just as it had earlier, the phenomenon passed.
Amalthea looked to Myriad. “...I see.” She was turning to me once more, perhaps to ask that we return to our den, when she suddenly swayed and crumpled to the deck.
“Amalthea!” Myriad and I shouted together, and Lucien sprang our way with a bellow. The entire platform creaked and groaned as he came down hard, narrowly missing the three of us.
“What's wrong?!”
“I, I feel faint,” my matriarch said softly.
“We'll get you to your nest,” I told her, and gestured for Myriad to return her to my back.
Lucien bade me grab hold of him for a quick flight down. I kept my wings tightly furled around Amalthea to help her hold on.
Petal never dropped her gaze from the sky.
We entered the lair and found it in chaos. All over, Nature dragons were acting woozy and weak. I noticed with concern that the dragons I knew to be the most magically-inclined were the most affected, but was in too much of a rush to get Amalthea resting to investigate further.
Lucien had just lifted her up to her nest so that she could recover in privacy when a small green blur flapped erratically into the room. It stopped near my desk and leaned against it, and I realized that the patriarch had descended from on high to speak with us.
“Where is she?” He gasped, leaning against my desk and grasping it with a wing.
“The matriarch is in her nest, Bearach.” Lucien looked down at our guest, face grim.
He took a deep breath and regarded us both with a bright green eye. “Something is wrong. We need to get her out of here.”
“Get her out--” Lucien snorted. “This is her home.”
“And you’re her Guardian,” Bearach wheezed. “Do your job.”
Lucien bared his teeth. He was about to speak, but Ilhuitl and Citlalli appeared suddenly in the doorway, gesturing frantically.
Come! Something is wrong! Citlalli signed.
“Some of the babies just fell over!” Illhuitl shouted. “They’re all sick!”
That stopped the boys from bickering, and all three of us made for the hatchery as quickly as was safe with the young Coatl in tow. Lucien waited at the entrance to the creche, head held low so he could see what was going on through the door.
Inside, Amethyst was zooming about in distressed loops over several of our newest hatchlings, who were all looking dazed and sluggish. I began to have a cold feeling in my chest as I thought back to what Myriad had said today. Power, her runes had read. Power and change. I looked worriedly out to Lucien.
Bearach went to calm Amethyst and get everyone working together to get the hatchlings to bed. As much as I personally disliked him, he had always been good in a crisis. I went to check on Chalcedony to see if he, too, needed help.
I found him inside, stock still and regarding a newly-hatched Snapper with horror. “Nocturnal,” he said when he noticed my presence. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”
I moved closer and regarded the hatchling curiously. “No? O-oh.”
Her eyes, which should have been green, were a deep, rich brown. She blinked up at me, completely unaware of the reason behind our attentiveness. Beside her, a sibling pipped, breaking through its shell and opening its eyes to greet the world. They, too, were brown.
I saw myself out and moved to Bearach’s side. “A moment, please?”
“What is it? I need to see to the children.”
“Bearach.” I waited until I had his full attention before murmuring, “The ley line has moved.”
“What?” His frills flattened with a loud crack before standing up tall along his neck. He looked to the hatchlings, then down at his talons. “So that’s what I’m feeling.”
We had always lived on the very border between Nature’s territory and that of Earth’s. And while I had never heard of a boundary shifting, it was clear that it had happened. Nothing else would account for the newest hatchling’s eyes, or the odd hues of the older ones.
“How interesting to hear,” came a small voice from behind us. I turned in horror to see the pale form of the Bonekeeper nearby, inspecting one of her hatchlings curiously. “Tell me, Patriarch. How will you maintain control without such an advantage?”
Bearach’s frills grew aggressively tall. “The same way I always have, Ajatar.”
She began to move for the hall. “Perhaps.”
The patriarch moved close. “Get to my mate. I’m not letting that one out of my sight.” With that, he followed the other Fae, leaving me looking after them in worry.
“Nocturnal!” Lucien called.
I shook myself and moved toward him. “Love, we have a problem.”
He was off down the hall before I had even finished explaining.