Blessed...and Cursed {Kolath and Kanna}

[Kanna]

Soon, it would be over. The war didn't rage for long, but it had been brutal. Armies completely decimated, families cleaved by the scythe of burning death that had fallen upon the humans. Inciting the dragon's rage, so many advised against it, so many pleaded, so many begged... and this was the end result. Sacrifices had to be made. A thousand heads, perhaps even more, for the price of greed. Of spilling dragon blood. Of violating the sanctity and honor of the land's protectors. Maybe it'd rob the nations of the brightest of minds, of their symbols... but it would be over.

It was a fate she'd fathomed between the dreams of cataclysm. Oracle of Komaryl, one of the most enduring human bastions over the ages, blessed by the stars with the magic of the soul, an icon of hope for so many, chosen as a sacrifice to pay for the blood of the dragon lord. Caitrin watched the city that had been her home, their home, disappear underneath the mantle of clouds as the dragon warrior carried her on his claws. The last remnant of her closest one. A single tear left her pale blue, almost white eyes. She'd die soon. Maybe then she'd be able to see her brother in the afterlife.

Her expression was peaceful, serene, only accentuating her beauty. The white robes and dress flowed behind her, only a simple silver embroidery of swirls on the hems suggesting that she was more than a mere acolyte, the black crest of the goddess, a crescent moon pointing upwards with five rays shooting from the convex side, over her chest. The same mark that adorned her right cheek, just under her eye, in white. The mark of her blessing. The mark that had her doomed in the first place. Only her hands and face were not covered by the fabric, her skin soft, naturally lightly tanned, contrasting. It wasn't demanded of Caitrin to hide her features, but she had long devoted herself to loving only one, even if in secret, even if forbidden. And only he'd see her forms when they'd meet again, if he so wished, if he so asked. Anyone else would just have to imagine the luscious forms underneath. Even her long auburn hair was hidden under a hood that had only slipped away after the flight had begun, a few shorter locks of waving flame released to the wind.

It was a fast flight towards the highlands, rich and fertile, part of what had been coveted. The fresh trail of recently claimed souls was still in the air when the battlefield was crossed, making Selena close her eyes in grief. Oh, how her brother would weep... the stupidity of some, dooming the life of so many they had sought to protect...

 

[Kolath]

He tried not to think about what he had just done. The clan stood around him looking on in shock as the one they had thought to be a runt now stood victorious over their clan chief, and as such was now the chief. There was some murmuring over what should be done, and Alec knew there could be trouble. What happened next shocked him, the chief's right hand dragon moved forward and lowered his head in submission. "You all know the law," the large dragon growled to the others, "now show your loyalty." With that all the dragons of the clan came and lowered their heads in a show of submission.

Marious turned and went into his own cave slipping into the depths of it to brood a little. His gold scales shone slighting even in the dim light of the fire he always had burning in the cave. How had it come to this? Something had just snapped in him when he heard what the chief's council had decided to ask for in payment from the humans. He had flown into a rage and his true power was shown as he overwhelmed the clan's chief easily with the magic the flowed through his veins. The mark of the sun still burned softly on his cheek as it always did when he used his magic. His claw came up and touched the mark the only thing left from his life as a human.

His mind traveled the paths of his memory back to his last day as a human. That foul wizard had attacked so suddenly that Marious had only a moment to protect himself and his sister not being able to save the other half dozen mages there with them. The wizard wanted Marious' power and youth since it had taken nearly his entire life to gain even what little power he had now. Marious was clearly the more powerful of the two but the wizard used a spell that only Marious truly understood the power of. Marious had one choice and one choice only. He threw himself into the spell and dragged the wizard with him using his power to defeat the power of the spell giving his life in the process.

Marious had woken in the plane between life and death where the twin god and goddess that had blessed him and his sister came to him. They told him that his time was not now and he needed to return to the world because a time was coming that only he could save the world. One of their servants gave his life to allow Marious to return to life as the dragon he now was. It was almost more than Marious could bear letting someone else give their life for him but the god and goddess had given him no choice.

Marious sighed looking to the sky seeing the dragon returning with the clan's "payment". It sickened him to think that he was now the clan leader and would be the one that had to keep the woman. He waited in his cave for the dragons of his clan to send her into him knowing that none would dare touch her.

 

[Kanna]

Caitrin let her vision cloud over as she read her captor's thoughts. She saw images of the other dragons, friends and mates that had been killed, as well as images of a gold dragon. Because of the angle of her vision, she couldn't see any markings on the dragon, except that he was smaller than the others...perhaps a runt of sorts. She noticed a large black dragon, felt the submissive mind of the dragon that carried her toward him. This was the leader that she was being taken to. In an instant, the vision of his memory flashed to a wish, one of the black dragon having his way with her, raping her, doing whatever he wanted with her. She was sickened by the image and pulled out of his mind. Once more, she wished for her brother to be there and hold her as her vision cleared.

It wasn't long before she was dropped on the high ledge to the leader's caves with nowhere to go. She could either go forward and face her fate, or jump off of the ledge and fall to a painful death. Of course, the one thing she feared more than being alone without her brother was death, so running off of the cliff wasn't an option for her. She sighed and wrapped her arms around herself as she moved forward into the darkness.

 

[Kolath]

Marious lay inside the cave watching the mouth from deep inside. He could see when she was placed on the ledge and sighed softly. There was a fire deep in the cave that he was laying near the fire glinting off his gold scales and the mark of the sun still blazing on his cheek. He sighed and realized he couldn’t delay any more the other dragons might think something was wrong and try and take her for themselves. He arched his neck up and roared softly to make sure it made its way up to the mouth of the cave. “Come in, little one, I won’t hurt you. Are you hungry?”

 

[Kanna]

She slowly followed the voice of the dragon that urged her deeper into the cave. The light of the warm fire somewhere deeper inside was a little encouraging. But she stopped when he roared, the echo making it obviously louder than it should have been. Caitrin bit her lip and reached out with her mind, trying to read the beast that she would be forced to stay with...but she couldn't get a clear image. That bothered her a little, and she sighed softly before she moved closer. The invitation of food sounded good to her. She touched the cold moon on her cheek and sighed softly. She didn't know why it was still cold, but she pushed through it as she moved into the firelight. She saw the gold dragon there, far different from the black that she had seen in the other dragon's thoughts. "H-hello..." she stammered softly, until she noticed something hiding among his shining gold scales on his cheek, glintinginthefire. "M-Marious? Is that you?" She was too shocked to really move.

 

[Kolath]

It might have been hard for her to be sure it was him since all that she had to go on was the birth mark. However for him she was unmistakable. There was no question in his mind when she walked close enough for the fire to catch her face and clothes. That was Caitrin, his sister and the one that he loved more than anything in this world, the one that he gave his life to protect. Things were starting to make sense as to why all this had happened, that it had been meant to draw them back together. “Caitrin…yes it is me…it’s a long story but it is me here in this dragon’s body.”

 

[Kanna]

She bit her lip and moved forward to meet him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him softly. "My brother...I've missed you so much..." Hot tears fell on his scales as she sobbed with joy. "I couldn't feel you anymore. I didn't know you lived." Her hand lightly stroked down his neck, and she kissed him again like she used to. She clung to him, not wanting to let go of the one person she loved more than life itself. "Please don't leave me again, Marious...I don't know if I could survive it again."

 

[Kolath]

He growled softly nuzzling against her softly in love having missed her too. “I know Caitrin, I missed you too; but I had no way to get in touch with you, a dragon over human lands would have started this war all the earlier.” He smiled softly still nuzzling lightly, “I know and I’m not leaving again I would never let you be hurt like that again.” He sighed softly a heavy dragon sigh as he nuzzled close to his sister feeling the warmth from his birthmark radiating throughout him in response to his sister being there. “Are you hungry?” he asked nodding toward the roast.