#kelsus

[nevercanth-fr]

i love drawing little guys. i know tumblr is going to maim their image quality but. teehee

[starwood-stranded-archived]

Princess' son Cornet arrives at Clan Lukra, to everyone's surprise.

TW: slavery

In his two-legged shift, Cornet fit easily in a satchel on the back of the dragon-form ridgeback courier. It wasn’t comfortable, but nothing in his life had ever been, so he didn’t really mind. Nor was it outside of his experience that he received nothing to eat or drink on the way, even when the courier stopped for her own refreshments -- she left him and his bag on her back, unopened. She hadn’t spoken to him once. He only knew they’d reached their destination when she swung the bag off her back, with no consideration for the dragon inside, and plopped it on the floor.

“Delivery here for Clan Lukra,” the courier said, her voice only slightly muffled by the leather around Cornet.

“What is it?” asked a tundra’s voice.

In answer, the courier lifted the flap, tilting the opening towards the voice: Cornet looked up to see the startled eyes of a tundra in a floppy hat.

“Uh, what?” the tundra said, as the ridgeback dropped the flap, returning Cornet to darkness. “I don’t, uh, why is he being delivered here?”

“You bought him, didn’t you?” The courier sounded a bit testy -- Cornet imagined that she did not want to be responsible for anything that went wrong with the handoff. He’d already been paid for, but she still had to collect half her fee from the recipients of her package.

“I … Not as far as I know.” The tundra sounded absolutely gobsmacked.

Keep reading >>

[starwood-stranded-archived]

After he witnesses Zarya's death, Acrux uses his clairvoyance to identify Barholme as the agent behind Clan Lukra's suffering and chases after him. In dire straits, he finds his life saved by a divine power, which he traces back to the little gods. 

TW: death

Acrux was arguing with Zarya the moment before she died. Neither of their hearts were really in it; Acrux knew that Zarya was only trying to rile him up by not-so-subtly asking about any “deaths in the family,” so he responded coolly. He wasn’t even looking at her in the moment, refusing to give her that much attention; but he still knew the instant she died, because she went quiet, not only to his ears but to his mind as well. Usually Zarya sounded like hunger, and bones cracking, but then she was gone and in her place a void roared in deafening silence. It was everywhere: Acrux couldn’t hear, couldn’t breathe. Somewhere among the void came a fae’s voice, hissing, A fitting punishment and other such things; that gave Acrux something to cling to, and he recovered himself, hearing screams and crashes from around the lair. That voice … he recognized it suddenly as Barholme’s, knew Barholme for the architect of their misery, and chased after it, taking to the air and hurtling between the trees. If he could catch Barholme, maybe this madness would end. But he couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from; it seemed all around him, centered inextricably in the void that filled the Inner Sanctum entirely.

Barholme! he heard, from Aridatha, and he turned and raced towards her quarters, drawing in his wings so that his sinuous body could pass through the trees. But he was too late. He heard her cry out, heard her call for help, and then he heard her die. Even before he poked his head into Aridatha’s quarters he knew that he could do nothing for her -- nothing but avenge her. He began to search the area for any sign of Barholme. Perhaps he would be of more help elsewhere; he might be able to ease his clan’s suffering instead of avenging it. But the idea didn’t even occur to him. A fire burned in his blood, a rage that Acrux had never truly felt before -- his disgust with Zarya had been but its pale shadow. It would not allow him to stop or hesitate; he would throw himself at Barholme until one of them died, would happily break the fae’s tiny body between his talons and wipe him off the face of Sornieth -- if only he could find him.

<< Chapter 1 | Keep reading >>

[starwood-stranded-archived]

A new dragon joins Clan Lukra: a strange pearlcatcher who answers only certain questions. // read on deviantart / read on ao3

The pearlcatcher walked into the clan lair with such assurance that it took some time before anyone realized that they’d never seen him before. He got all the way to the stream in the center of the lair before someone thought to challenge him, and when they did, it was only Kelsus. The fae landed on the bank beside the pearlcatcher, peering up at him. “Hello,” Kelsus said, fins undulating gently with distant curiosity. “Are you new here? I don’t remember seeing you before.” “Yes,” the pearlcatcher said. “Sorry I missed you,” said Kelsus. “What’s your name?” The pearlcatcher said nothing, only looked contemplatively into the pool, tilting his head back and forth as he watched the water. It was shallow here, just barely running over the tiny stones of the streambed, not even an inch deep. This was a common place to ford the stream, although it never got deep enough to give a dragon larger than a fae or spiral much trouble, except in the pool where the familiars gathered. “Excuse me?” Kelsus said, after a moment’s silence. “Sorry, can I get your name?” “No.”

“Oh.” The fae’s frills wilted back. “Sorry for bothering you, then.” He flew away, leaving the pearlcatcher to his contemplation -- but only for a moment. Shortly, Geras walked over, Kelsus perched on her head, clinging to her horns. “Excuse me,” she said, her voice considerably sharper than Kelsus’ monotone. “I don’t recall Aridatha informing us of any new clan members.” The pearlcatcher said nothing. “Who are you?” Geras asked. Nothing. “Kelsus, please go get Lioska. You, I hope you’re not planning on going anywhere.” The pearlcatcher folded his legs under him and settled down next to the stream, Geras looming over him. When Lioska arrived, Frip accompanied her. “I’m sorry if this is foolish,” Geras began. “I don’t know this pearlcatcher, and he won’t answer my questions. Do you know him?” “No,” Lioska said, eyes narrowing as she examined the stranger. “He’s definitely not a new clan member -- I’ve never seen him before.” “Well, he’s not a new clan member yet,” Frip said. Ignoring Frip, Lioska said, “What’s your name? Who are you?” The pearlcatcher said nothing, just looked at Lioska. While his face appeared mostly expressionless, one might read a hint of frustration in his Lightning-blue eyes. “Answer me!” Lioska snapped. “Don’t bully the poor pearlie,” Frip said. “It’s not that he doesn’t want to answer; he can’t. Can you, Machine?” “No.” Geras looked at Frip, though Lioska did not take her eyes off the pearlcatcher. “You know him?” “I know everyone.” Frip grinned. “You should have told us he was coming, then,” Lioska said. “Where’s that mess of yours who’s supposed to be standing guard?” “Saria is having a moment of existential uncertainty,” Frip answered. “Anyway, Machine is here to join our clan, and we’ve big plans for him … But you won’t get much out of him, I’m afraid. He’s not very talkative.” “What does she mean, you ‘can’t’ answer?” Lioska asked Machine, who, true to form, did not answer. He definitely looked frustrated now, and glanced back and forth between Frip and Lioska. “Did you make an arrangement with Frip?” “No,” Machine said. His voice had almost a fae’s lack of tone, but he did sound vaguely relieved, perhaps at finally receiving a question that he could actually answer. He looked at Frip almost warily. “Call it one-sided, like everything else,” Frip said. “I don’t suppose you’ve figured it out yet … Come on, Lia, you’re supposed to be clever.” “Figured out what?” Kelsus asked. Lioska ignored the fae, thinking. “He only says no?” “Close. Machine can only answer yes or no questions. But … Well, you’ll find that out in time, won’t you.” Lioska looked at Frip. “Did you talk to Aridatha about recruiting your friend here? Clear this with anyone?” Frip shook her head. “But he’s here now.” “We could always … remove him,” Lioska said. “Oh, I really wouldn’t recommend that.” Frip examined her claws. “It wouldn’t do to be so cruel to a clan member, now, would it?” “He’s not -- ” Frustrated, Lioska shook her head. “Someone seems to be missing from this conversation,” Kelsus pointed out. As ever, it was impossible to tell if he meant to be sarcastic. Geras turned to Machine. “Do you even want to stay?” Her voice suggested that she rather hoped for a “no,” which would render the whole argument moot. “Yes.” “There you have it, then,” Frip said. “Who are we to turn him away?” “The people who live here already?” “Didn’t stop Barholme, and he might be regretting that about now, mightn’t he?” “What do you …” Lioska shook her head. “I’ll have to speak to Aridatha. In the meantime, Kelsus, keep an eye on him.” “I can do that,” Kelsus said, forestalling Geras’ objection. He still lacked any formal role in the clan, finding himself instead a holdover from its early days, and did not typically receive much in the way of tasks; perhaps he wished to feel useful. “I’ll be around if you have any more questions Machine can’t answer,” Frip said, in a rare display of helpfulness. As Lioska stalked away, the nocturne added in a singsong voice, “Big plans …”

[starwood-stranded-archived]

After the recent disaster, the remaining clan members reunite. As Aridatha tries to figure out what to do, Frip returns, angering Acrux and Geras, and offers a revelation about Kelsus’ fate. // read on dA

“That’s three passes without finding anyone else. I think this is all we’re going to find, unless someone survived in the lair itself.”

“Right. We’ll have to do that …” Aridatha looked miserably at Lioska, imagining the task of deciding which dragon should risk going back to the site of disaster, to the heart of the infection. Perhaps Aridatha herself ought to go investigate. She just couldn’t bring herself to ask anyone else to risk their lives; maybe she could ask for volunteers.

“We may wish to wait till morning,” Lioska said, the barest note of mercy in her voice. “Everyone is exhausted.”

It had taken the remainder of the day and a good portion of the night for Aridatha and Lioska to gather those clan members they could find in this small clearing about a mile from the lair. Finding Nesita and Bartos, who had stuck together, had helped greatly, since the two tundras were able to devise a spell that pointed them towards other dragons. But their success rate was not high. Clan Lukra had included 37 dragons before the incident. Only seventeen stood in this clearing.

Aridatha glanced around. “This isn’t much of a camp, but it’ll do.”

Lioska nodded. “I’ll see if I can arrange some hunting and foraging. We could do with a good meal -- or even a bad one.”

As Lioska moved away to talk to Delemont, Aridatha let her head droop into her talons and took stock.

They had not lost a full twenty dragons. Frip’s and Boolean’s travels had kept them out of harm’s way -- the former Aridatha knew of from Acrux’s account, the latter from Isildur’s records. Boolean would return in about a week’s time, and of course Aridatha doubted that the incident would have inconvenienced Frip even if she had been present. By pure bad luck, however, the catastrophe had caught the familiar-trader Nilith on one of her visits, and several dragons had seen her fly up over the treetops with that motley fire in her veins.

Surviving dragons had witnessed similar scenes with Weythran, Xylia, and Moros, and of course Aridatha had seen the infections of Iburel, Rakgi, Cobalt, and Kelsus for herself. And Talva, whose case had been their one inadequate attempt at a quarantine … Other dragons were simply missing: Arven, Zura, Sovari, Halamshiral, Gavin, Sunfall … and Nessa. That last name on the list of the vanished tore at Aridatha’s heart more than she cared to admit. No one could say whether these dragons had succumbed to the disease or simply become lost in the woods, so a painful thread of hope continued to spin in Aridatha’s veins …

And she had to act on that hope. She made a decision: even with everyone tired, they needed to do at least a quick check of the lair. If it was safe, they would rest far better in their own home than in the middle of the woods -- unless, of course, the infection lingered invisibly, or they were too haunted by the images of their fallen friends … Regardless, Aridatha needed information. She turned to the rest of the clan and called for their attention. “Everyone! I know you’re tired; I know you’re hurting. But we need to know what the current state of the lair is, and … it may be dangerous to investigate. I’m not going to order anyone to go back in there, but I would appreciate volunteers.”

The entire clan -- excluding Delemont, Zarya, and Luna, who had gone off to find food -- stared blankly at Aridatha, clearly not enthused by the idea. Even Lioska appeared less than thrilled. Maybe Aridatha really should have waited until the next day.

Then, a voice from behind Aridatha: “That won’t be necessary. The lair is fine. The infection’s cleared out by now.”

Aridatha spun to see, of course, Frip, sauntering into their temporary camp as if she hadn’t just conveniently abandoned them in their hour of greatest need. Bile rose in Aridatha’s throat, and clearly not only in hers: Acrux lunged forward, snarling, “Where were you?”

Frip paused and surveyed the scene: fourteen faces angry, like Acrux’s; or sad, like Cypress’s; or simply contemptuous, like Isildur’s. As she looked at the others, Aridatha felt her own rage fade away, replaced by despairing exhaustion. “You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you, Frip?”

For a long moment, the nocturne said nothing. Then: “Doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t matter?” With a single abrupt movement, Geras lifted herself from the spot where she’d lain listless and silent ever since they’d gathered, clearly suddenly furious. She stalked across the clearing and loomed over Frip, teeth bared, and even Acrux stepped back. “Half our clan is gone. Kelsus is dead. And you just -- How can you just come marching back in here like nothing’s -- ”

“Oh, right.” Frip held up a talon before Geras, ordering her to wait, and Aridatha could see the guardian’s entire body shaking at the casual insult of the gesture, but she seemed baffled into compliance, too surprised to either continue her tirade or take more physical action. Meanwhile, Frip lifted one wing and appeared to search under it, as if she had far more hidden there than her relatively small wingspan would suggest. Finally, after an agonizing moment, she turned back to Geras, pulling out from under her wing and rather disheveled, very confused green fae.

“K … Kelsus?” Geras jerked back in shock. “But I saw him -- I saw you -- ”

“Don’t say I never did anything for you,” Frip said, setting Kelsus on the grass, where he blinked and looked around blankly. Geras slowly, carefully, reached out a talon towards him, and he grabbed it -- both of them looked like they could not quite believe the other was real, or perhaps it was his own existence Kelsus struggled with -- and then, in a quick motion, he scampered up Geras’ leg and sat on her shoulder, nestling into her haori. Carefully, Geras twisted her neck back and nuzzled him gently with her snout.

Aridatha looked at Frip and felt a strange cocktail of emotions, not all of which she could identify. Relief was in there, and joy -- of course she was glad to have Kelsus back, so glad -- but also something sadder, something like disappointment, and then shame that she could greet such a boon with anything negative. “The others … ?”

“Don’t get greedy,” Frip said, as Aridatha had rather expected. “We broke the rules just to bring back Green Bean. Everything else is as written. Nobody else is coming back.”

For a moment there was solemn silence, a somber acknowledgment of all the bodies missing from that clearing, even now that two more had been added. Then, Frip added, “But the lair is safe, so I’m going to go get some rest in my own bed, and I suggest the rest of you do the same.”

[starwood-stranded-archived]

Nesita, Bartos and Geras examine Kelsus, trying to understand the strange symptoms he’s showing, only to be interrupted by Acrux. // read on dA

“I’m fine,” Kelsus said, tail twitching. Geras had known him long enough to read annoyance in his waving fins, as indifferent as his voice might sound.

“You are very much not fine,” said Bartos, Kelsus’ wing stretched delicately in his claws as he examined it. The painful glow from under Kelsus’ skin had become, if anything, worse, spreading across his markings, consuming his nails and bones. His eyes were like sunbeams, impossible to look directly at. “Fascinating. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Geras growled, irked by Bartos’ detached tone when he’d said himself that Kelsus was in danger -- but Nesita stepped forward before she could speak.

“It will be an interesting case for further study when the immediate danger has passed,” the older healer said, soothingly, taking up Kelsus’ other wing. Abruptly, the little fae snarled and snapped at Nesita’s paws, teeth flashing with that awful rainbow light, and both tundras pulled back, startled: Kelsus had never had a violent bone in his body. As soon as they released him, Kelsus fluttered rapidly to the ceiling, hanging from it, wings spread as if to envelop the watching dragons in even more of that terrible radiance.

“Kelsus?” Geras asked, cautiously. She was large enough to reach him on the ceiling -- in fact, she was rather cramped trying to fit into Talva’s quarters, which the snapper had generously offered in this emergency -- but she made no attempt to touch him, since that had apparently set him off. “What are you doing?”

“Stop fussing over me!” There actually was some emphasis on these words: startling, for a fae. “I’m fine! In fact, I’m better!”

“Kelsus, can you tell us what’s going on with you? What do you feel? When did this start?” Nesita’s voice was calming as ever, but Geras had known her for a long time, too: she was worried. That distressed Geras more than her own anxiety, since Nesita was usually so unflappable.

But the words seemed to have the desired effect on Kelsus: he folded his wings slightly, head tilting as he considered the questions. “I was insect-hunting and I saw this tree -- it was glowing. And then it, sort of, flashed … I feel so alive, Geras. It’s wonderful.”

Kelsus paused, and in that moment Acrux poked his head into the room, eyes wide, neck curling slightly around Nesita and Bartos.

“Nesita, Bartos, Geras, could you come out here for a moment?” The panic in the imperial’s voice startled Geras, since Acrux was usually even more levelheaded than Nesita.

“You go,” Geras told the smaller dragons. “I’ll stay here and watch Kelsus.”

“No!” Acrux snapped. “All of you need to come with me. Now.”

“But Kelsus -- ”

With a frustrated cry, Acrux threw his weight against Nesita and Bartos, bodily shoving them out of the chamber. Outraged, Geras leapt after them, and that was when Kelsus’ light flashed blindingly behind her, almost audibly impacting the wood by her head, as if it were solid -- Bartos threw up a protective magic automatically; the daggers of illumination shredded it but went no farther --

Kelsus was gone. Cracks of that awful rainbow light spread across the ceiling-supporting branch he’d hung from, the grass under his last location.

“Kelsus?” Geras said. “Kelsus!”

She started to run back into the chamber, to look for him, to find him -- she didn’t know what she was going to do -- but Acrux restrained her, wrapping his sinuous body around her and holding her back with his own weight.

“It’s contagious!” the imperial said. “Talva’s eyes are glowing!”

Into the shocked silence, Bartos spoke one word, and distantly Geras noted that he was much better-versed in profanity than she would’ve thought.

[starwood-stranded-archived]

Acrux attempts to ask Frip about Telyn’s dire predictions, but instead he and Talva witness Kelsus’ fall. // read on dA

Acrux poked his head into Frip’s quarters and … nothing. She wasn’t there. At least, he didn’t think she was; it was hard to be sure, since he couldn’t keep the image of her chamber in his head. Even while looking at the room, he couldn’t describe it, couldn’t even tell anyone what was in it … More of Frip’s strange magic, but Acrux didn’t have time to worry about that now.

After Telyn’s alarming departure, he could think of only two things to do: warn Aridatha and seek answers from Frip. He’d settled on doing the latter first, hoping that he’d have a little more information to go on when he spoke to Aridatha, something a bit more helpful than “inescapable doom.” It was a slim hope. While Frip most certainly had answers, Acrux’s chances of dragging them out of her were not high. The nocturne knew everything that occurred in Clan Lukra, and often the future as well -- she had bonded with Telyn over that shared experience -- but, even more so than Telyn, she was disinclined to be helpful, preferring to maintain a frustrating aura of mystery.

“Acrux? What are you doing?”

Acrux sagged to the ground, abandoning his attempt to peer into Frip’s arboreal abode. The question came from Talva, standing on the ground next to him: she lived directly beneath.

“I’m looking for Frip. Have you seen her? It’s important.”

Perhaps something of the desperation he felt entered Acrux’s voice, because Talva gave him a long, searching look before answering. “No. But that doesn’t mean she’s not around. You know Frip; nobody ever sees her unless she’s decided to meddle.”

I resemble that remark. Acrux whirled around, hope briefly ignited by the nocturne’s voice in his mind -- but there was no sign of her, not even a swirl of white cloth or glint of silver wings. Acrux did not, habitually, swear, but he found himself biting back some withering words at the moment. That -- that dragon! He heard Frip’s laughter in his head, and, rather incoherently, directed at her the sentiment that if she was somehow reading his mind right now, then she’d better get out here and help.

No answer, but a slip of paper fluttered down from the branches, despite the lack of any wind or movement that would have logically dislodged it. Acrux snatched it out of the air and barely restrained himself from snarling as he saw the message scribbled on it -- in large letters, so that even he, an imperial, could read it.

Gone shopping. Be back soon. Love you ~ xoxoxoxo Frip

“Is everything all right?” Talva looked up at Acrux with distant concern; she didn’t seem genuinely worried, perhaps even a little amused by his antics.

Acrux crumpled the note in his claws. “No. Telyn’s gone -- she had a vision … I need to see Aridatha. Be careful, Tal -- ”

With a soft cry, a fae fell from the branches above onto Acrux’s snout. Of course, Acrux barely even felt the impact, but he was startled -- and further startled when he caught the limp body as it slipped off and found Kelsus, eyes open and shining, everything shining, a harsh multicolored light tracing its way across his body like veins …

“Oh no,” Acrux said. In his mind he could hear Kelsus screaming.

[juggernautthor]

Finally got enough stupid shards to make this in the game