The question made Asharin look up from the table to his eldest daughter. Kiela was accompanied by Elyena, and the brief glance the pair shared made him furrow his brows slightly.
"Of course, just a moment." The archdruid stood and walked over to the couch where Serena was reading with Myleena and Aiteus leaning into her sides, the twins fast asleep. Their words were little more than murmurs, and he was on his way back after a quick kiss.
"Girls, is there something wrong?" Asha asked with concern as the trio reached the treeline of the nearby forest outside.
"I wouldn't say 'wrong', it's just..." Kiela started, but growled helplessly as words failed her to properly describe the feeling.
"We are restless. It's not unbearable, we can even put it out of our mind and ignore it for a time, but... it's like an itch we cannot scratch." Elyena added, she was always better with putting her emotions into words.
Asharin outright frowned, he didn't feel anything of the sort, but both of his elder daughters did, so he accepted it at face value.
"Do you have any ideas or guesses..." He started, but sensing the approach of another presence made him pause. It was familiar, and soon enough a figure crested the hill.
"Lyna! It's been a while, old friend." He greeted her warmly as the image of the average kaldorei woman shimmered, replaced by the preferred visage of Lynesera, the green dragon.
Kiela and Elyena said their own greetings, both taking notice of Lyna's peculiar expression when she looked at the pair. If their father picked upon it, he didn't show any reaction.
"Indeed. As much as I like your and your family's company, I still have my share of responsibility for keeping the Emerald Dream safe." The green dragon hugged him with a chuckle, but her expression grew serious. "The reason I actually came is to say goodbye, for now. The Dragon Isles are calling us home, and the dragonflights answered it. Most of them are already there. I know you still don't like spending time in there, so I thought relaying the news in person would be best."
Asharin's eyebrows shot up, but the audible gasps of his daughters were more important than his surprise.
"Can it... is it possible, that we feel that call as well?" Kiela finally asked, the sisters' gaze locked on Lyna.
The green dragon laughed. "Quite so. You know that your mother Alarastrasza was my best friend, of course her children would feel it. Moreso, if we are using mortal relationships, your grandmother is the Dragon Queen herself. I have no doubt."
"But... how would we even get there? We are not full dragons, we cannot simply fly over." Elyena voiced her own concerns. "Could you take us with you?"
Lynesera smiled, if a bit sadly. "I wish I could, but you know the state my wings are in, little ones. My clutchsister was kind enough to offer to bring me along, and is already waiting for my return. But there's another way." She paused, looking at Asharin for permission to continue.
Unease filled the archdruid, but he simply nodded.
"Nothing is easy, and the same goes for our return. A group of proto-dragons and their allies call themselves the Primalists, and they are stirring up trouble. I don't know all the details, but the Aspects already agreed to ask for the aid of the mortal races. One of the expeditions will set sail from Stormwind in... I think around two weeks' time. If you want to come, that is your best chance."
"I've heard of troubles regarding elementals at different locations, but the Circle didn't request my participation, so I didn't investigate further." Asha sighed before looking at his daughters. It was obvious they wanted to go, but deferred to his decision. The incident in Revendreth still echoed in their minds even if more than three years have passed since. He wanted to protect them, to know they were safe... but they were adults and could decide on their own.
"Kiela, Elyena, you are grown-ups, it's time you make these choices for yourselves, I won't stand in your way... though I dare to bet I know the outcome." Asharin smiled, opening his arms as Kiela and Elyena tackled him with cries of joy. "I take it you're going." He chuckled, cupping their cheeks before facing his friend. "Lyna, can I ask you to help these two troublemakers out a little after they arrive?"
The green dragon laughed again with a nod. "I would have done that even if you didn't ask, but I truly have to go now. Safe travels, and we shall meet again on the Dragon Isles." She inclined her head to the family before returning the way she came.
"Ann'da, thank you!" Kiela and Elyena muttered and held him tight.
"Now, now... You two better go and start your preparations for the trip. Just don't forget, no sneaking out without saying goodbyes. You don't want to upset the twins, do you?" He teased, laughing at their mortified faces.
"And even when you're there, never forget that we're just a letter away... and who knows, I might join you briefly at a later date."
Looking at their excited expressions, Asharin couldn't help smiling. Even if they were adults, they were still his children... but everyone had their own path. Supporting them was the least he could do.
"I'm proud of you both... and I'm sure your mother would feel the same."
Kiela and Elyena teared up at that, sharing another hug.
While I couldn't come up with anything for the last day, here are the rest of DWC stories for November 2022:
Day 1 - Instinct - featuring Samantha and Zhiadormi
Day 2 - Orbit/Illusion - featuring Sharyssa
Day 3 - Mortality - featuring Arlyn
Day 4 - Children - featuring Elyena, Kiela, Lynesera and Asharin
Day 5 - Damage - featuring Myleena, Aiteus and Serena
Day 6 - Home - featuring Neria and Zhiadormi
Thanks again to the people running the @daily-writing-challenge!
NOTE: // I only RP on tumblr or on Discord, no in-game RP
Lynesera helped the night elf forces during the War of the Shifting Sands, that's when she received most of her scars and ended up using that leaf to cover her face. She aided the elves again against the forces of Ragnaros after the Cataclysm.
Thanks to her curious nature, she usually helps out druids while their dreamforms are wandering in the Emerald Dream and even visits the locations with many elven druids from time to time, though her presence is sometimes hidden so she can just observe them.
Lyna was also almost twisted by the Nightmare during the most recent legion invasion, but she recognized the danger and left the Dream through the portal at Hyjal and remained outside ever since, though she drops back in to visit the Eye from time to time now that it is safe to do so.
She actually had to ask for Merithra's help to travel to the Dragon Isles, as her wings were injured in the War of the Shifting Sands, leaving her incapable of long-distance flying withotu taking multiple breaks.
// TW Injury, TW violence - set during the War of the Shifting Sands
"Come on, get going already! We cannot hold them up for long! The commanders must be warned!" As'Trevon roared, taking on his bear form despite his injuries and barreled into the incoming, endless swarm of silithid, the remaining sentinels joining him with their own battlecries.
Asharin growled in frustration, but did as he was told. His own hide sported similar wounds despite hardening his skin like bark, the bladelike appendages of the reavers penetrating his defense. He knew the choice was rational, if anyone had a chance to reach the commanding officers before the buglike creatures, it was him. The druid vowed to make his comrades' sacrifice count.
By the time he and the two sentinels with him returned from their scouting mission, the camp was already under attack. It wasn't a true outpost, little more than a suitable spot to rest surrounded by a semicircle of rocks to shield them from the elements... hardly protection against an army. He had no idea if it was mere bad luck or calculated, but the healers were among the first to fall, making resistance futile. Only four of them remained of the original dozen, himself included.
Roaring in defiance one last time, Asharin shapeshifted, shedding the form of the bear to that of the more graceful and faster nightsaber. He would have opted for a different shape if not for the long gash running across her shoulder all the way to the middle of his back.
***
He didn't dare to take a break, knowing full well the enemy could catch him simply by following the trail of blood, but he could push past the limits of his body for only so long before being forced to slow down and resumed his elven form.
The familiar buzzing of wasplike wings meant his pursuers were hot on his trail. Asha gritted his teeth and attempted to take on the shape of the stormcrow, consequences to his body be damned, but he only managed a few flaps before landing in the sand with a thud.
"Damn it!" The elf hissed, too tired for another shapeshifting and prepared his last stand. The dozen or so silithid flyers were almost within striking distance. Pouring his anger and determination into his spell, Asharin released a blast of lightning, the sparks jumping from one insect to the other.
For a moment the druid believed it was complete success. He collapsed to his knees, but looked up again at the angry screech of a pair of wasps. Their armored shells were smoking, but apparently the power of his spell faltered as it reached the rear of the hunting group.
Asharin wanted desperately to fight on, but he was completely spent. "Sorry everyone, I couldn't make it in the end..." He whispered, ready for the end.
A huge shadow blocked out the sun and the elf recoiled at the sudden heat as a blast of fire turned his attackers into cinders. He looked up, only to gasp in wonder as a majestic red dragon slowly descended, followed by a green. It made no sense at first, the bronze dragons refused to join the war, and Asharin doubted any of the druids had deep enough ties to the Emerald Dream to make the greens offer their aid, let alone contacting the reds.
"Are you alright?" The red dragon, a female based on her voice, rumbled as she landed.
"Obviously. The small pool of blood next to him confirms it." The green -another female- replied with sarcasm.
The red shot a look at her comrade before her form started shimmering and shrinking, and Asha was looking into the concerned eyes of a gorgeous elf maiden. Despite knowing her true form, the exhausted druid couldn't help but marvel at her beauty and the long, crimson hair with snowwhite streaks framing her face. The horns just added to her exotic look, but the ground rushed to meet him before he could get an even better look.
Gentle, but firm hands prevented his fall, the fog in his mind clearing as the warmth of a healing spell spread through, renewing Asharin's body and allowing him to focus once more.
"The silithid... they are coming. I must warn the commanders..." He muttered and tried to stand, unable to meet her gaze.
"We know. I have no idea which corner of the desert you come from to report, but they have already reached the Caverns of Time. Anachronos was so pissed he even asked our flights for aid." The speaker had to be the green, and Asha wasn't that surprised to find another elf maiden standing in place of the dragon with shining amber eyes like his own and long emerald hair.
"I... I see. I still have to warn them of a fresh wave, our small outpost was already overrun." He steeled his voice. "Could you tell me the direction of where the current frontline is, please?"
"Do you think you can offer any aid, exhausted as you are? Alara might have healed your body, but stamina isn't so easy to refill." The green supplied after a quick glance at him.
"Lyna, you don't have to be so rude." Alarastrasza retorted and sighed, but Lynesera was right. "You just rest, brave one. I have mended your wounds, not even a scar remains on your shoulder, but you're in no shape to join the fight...but I'll take you to the command base. Lyna, a little help, please?" She added, turning to the druid.
"Wait, what do you...?" Asharin's eyes fluttered shut as the green dragon's spell took effect.
Alara was ready to resume her original form when she noticed Lynesera's odd expression. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I was just surprised. I cast that sleep spell before you actually finished talking, yet he lasted long enough to even voice a complaint. Unusual... wait, a second." She stepped next to his sleeping body in the red's arms. "Those antlers, they're the real deal. I've heard of his like before from my kin, but this is the first time I've met one. Druids born with antlers are blessed with potential, and it explains his resistance to my Dream-based powers." She paused, looking from his face to Alara's. "You certainly picked up an interesting plaything, my friend." She teased before returning to her dragon form, waiting on the red.
Alara just scoffed before turning as well, carefully scooping Asha into a forepaw and carried him back to the army's current base.
***
The following days were far from peaceful. Though he still caught a few odd glances directed his way here and there, he just ignored them. It couldn't be helped, a dragon carrying someone back like in his case was hardly normal.
Asharin shook his head, focusing on the battles ahead instead. The elven army's morale improved greatly when the dragons joined the fray, for the first time since the death of Archdruid Staghelm's son. They could even push the silithid and their qiraji leaders all the way back to Silithus, but the numbers of the insect race were seemingly infinite. The attempt to retake the land ground to a halt.
Asha did his part during the fights: wherever the the line of elves was about to falter, he was quick to join the area, the giant bear carving a line in the silithid forces, his fur hardened like bark and lightning crackling around his paws. His survival wasn't entirely his own prowess though that couldn't be denied either, but a breath of fire from one of the dragons passing overhead kept him from being surrounded more than once.
It happened during a particularly fierce battle: the painful roar hit his ears even as he was waist-deep in silithid corpses, and the bear quickly looked in the direction it came from. It was a green dragon, on the ground, and the qiraji forces started to converge in that direction. Asharin wasted no time, charging towards the green with all the haste his form could allow, carving a path to the distressed leviathan.
It became clear as he got closer that one of its wings was full of holes, the likely reason the dragon was forced to land, but it was already sporting a number of bloody wounds, including one on the right side of its face.
The qiraji general, wanting the kill for itself alone, readied its appendage for another blow to the dragon's face to snuff its life out when the lightning struck, forcing a shriek of pain from the creature. Asharin barreled past an anubisath, knocking it down by slamming into its leg, and jumped at the general. Rage filled his mind, letting it control him and he kept mauling , mangling and ravaging his opponent's carapace, ignoring any injury he himself received, including a nasty wound in his side.
It was the voice of the dragon that brought the druid's reason back from the red haze of fury, a voice that was familiar. "It's dead, go now while you can..." It was Lynesera, the green from back then.
"I'm going nowhere." He growled, glad of the momentary reprieve he had given her, but it wouldn't last, not with such a prized kill the green presented. "Can you still take humanoid form? I might be able to get you back then." Asha muttered, slamming his paw into a silithid reaver that came too close.
"Forget it." Lynesera refused, her good eye dim with resignation. She let out a weak breath of noxious fumes, taking care of the smaller insects, but it had no effect on the pair of anubisath closing in on them and she didn't have the strength for more.
"You two saved me before, you can give up on me leaving you behind now." To her utter disbelief, Asharin's bear form seemed to grow even bigger, the lightning now fully enveloping and crackling around his bark-covered body.
With a roar worthy of Ursoc, the druid charged into one of the obsidian constructs, tearing chunks off from its body with his blows before leaving his target to tear into the other.
"Fall back!" The roar from above was his only warning as a blast of fire destroyed the constructs, the druid only dodging it by a hair's breath.
"Get Lyna to safety, quickly! I'll cover you as long as I can, but time is pressing!" Alarastrasza rumbled, silencing the green's protest with a look.
Lynesera obliged silently, quickly pressing a hand against the bleeding side of her face once in she was in her kaldorei guise and collapsed to her knees with a grunt.
Asha lowered hismelf to the ground so she could climb up, not trusting himself to be able to shift again with the wound in his side. With wall of dragonfire covering his back, he could afford to focus on getting the green to the healers without worry.
***
Asharin was sitting by one of the many campfires at the base, the fur cloak over his shoulders and the heat of the flames barely enough the keep the chill of the night away from his bare chest, but his bandaged side finally stopped throbbing so he was in no hurry to move. Luckily, most of the soldiers were either asleep or gathered around more centrally-located fires, and he didn't mind the solitude. He had to stop hismelf from scratching absentmindedly at the poultice over his right cheek, hiding a deeper cut that needed to be stitched together. He didn't even notice it during the battle, and getting it mended wasn't a priority compared to the injuries others suffered.
His ears twitched at the sound of approaching footsteps in the sand, whoever it was, wanted him to hear their coming.
"I'm glad to find you awake and in decent enough health." The newcomer raised a hand in greeting.
"Ah, Alara... Alarastrasza, was it?" Asha fumbled his words, wanting to stand and bow first, but a winced at the pain in his side and hoped she would accept the nod he managed in the end. He could at least get a better look at her elven appearance, surprised at the simple top and the long skirt. She was barefoot too, but she was a dragon, he supposed it didn't really matter whether the sand was cold or hot under her feet. She looked exhausted, but her golden eyes were still gleaming in the firelight.
"Alara is fine." She replied, her strides more urgent as she reached his side with a frown. "You're hurt. I'm surprised the healers didn't completely heal you."
"It's... It's not too bad. I didn't want to take their time from those who needed it more. They had their hands full already. I just need to sleep and will be ready to fight again." It was the truth as he saw it, but Alara's clearly disagreed.
"Stay still." Her hands glowed with green light as she removed the bandages from his side, her touch warm and renewing. She traced a finger over the cut on her cheek as well, the stitches dissolving in the process. "I'm sorry, I couldn't mend them flawlessly, it has been too long since you got hurt to avoid scarring."
"It's fine, really. At least I can move without any trouble. Thank you." Asha replied with a small smile before suddenly pulling the cloak closer over his body, more aware of the chill now... or was it embarassment? "How's your friend? The... the green dragon?" he asked to change the topic. It was still weird, him talking to a dragon so casually.
"Alive, thanks to you." The new voice almost made Asharin jump and he bit back a swear as Lynesera hobbled into the light with a crutch. She looked a lot worse for the wear, a number of deep scars and even some bandages visible on her body. Apparently not even Alara could mend another dragon so easily. The most noticeable change was the large grass-green leaf covering Lyna's right eye, hiding most of the gash that started above her eyebrow and went down all the way to her cheekbone.
"That's the original reason we wanted to find you, to thank you for saving Lyna's life." Alara added, helping the green to sit across the druid at the fire.
"You two saved me first, I just returned the favor." Asha shook his head, this time feeling embarassed for sure.
"You didn't even know it was me until I spoke up, did you?" The green asked with a small smirk, her tone teasing.
The druid just cleared his throat, refusing to look at her.
"Either way, without your timely arrival, I would have been too late. For that, I'll always be grateful..." Alara countered as she walked back and took a seat next to him. "I almost forgot, we don't even know your name yet, do we?"
"No, not that I recall." Lyna clearly enjoyed tormenting him.
"My apologies for my slip in manners. My name is Asharin... but Asha will suffice, if you would prefer that." The kaldorei introduced himself belatedly.
"You already know my name, while my friend is Lynesera, but we just call her Lyna." The green waved her hand with a chuckle at Alara's introduction.
***
The two dragons continued the conversation in the same tone, mostly about common things, avoiding the war effort almost entirely. Asharin only commented a few times or when asked, he was more intrigued and was listening intently.
Eventually a comfortable silence descended. While Lyna was tracing her new scars, Alara's mind was elsewhere while gazing into the fire.
"Pssht, Alara! Hey!" The red was brought back to the present by the whispers of her friend, glancing at the green dragon in confusion. Lynesera just grinned, pointing at her side with a finger.
Alarastrasza suddenly tensed as she suddenly felt an unfamiliar weight on her shoulder, but relaxed upon glancing at the druid's sleeping face. She shifted position carefully, laying the druid's head down on her lap with gentle care and with a fond smile on her face, making sure his antlers didn't snag into anything.
Lyna almost snorted, but in the end just silently waved goodbye for the night and hobbled back to their shared tent with as little noise as she could manage.
Alara just nodded, shaking her head slightly at the green's departing back, gently stroking the druid's wild, violet mane of hair while watching the starry sky.
Fate was a strange thing, unfathomable even. If they didn't chance on Asharin back then and saved his life -and protected him a few times secretly during a battle or two- then he wouldn't have been able to protect and save Lynesera in turn. The green's fate aside, she was glad they met this strange druid, regardless of the fact that he was a mortal. If anything, that just made him more intriguing. She truly hoped all three of them would survive this war, and if helping him sleep soundly for tonight improved his chances just a tiny bit, she was content.
It depends on circumstances and distance.
If magic is involved, Eoloran could go from A to B the fastest via portal (if he knows the locations of course) in case of long distances. Sharyssa isn’t that good with portals yet so she could be only second.
For short distances, again the uncle-niece duo would end up winning with using blink.
If magic is not allowed, then it would be my green dragon Lynesera since she can fly (even if she’d need to take breaks in between as she cannot fly for long distances at once).
When it comes to purely physical body with no flight or magic allowed, it would be a race between my two worgen, Sam and Gerrard.
You might wonder why I didn’t mention Asharin before, it’s true he can fly or dash/run fast using shapeshifting, but shapeshifting is still a magical ability.
