Thar Shaddin

The realisation that they were both magical beings left a bitter taste in her mouth and for a long time, Soneya didn’t react at all, shocked by the knowledge finally hitting her like a sledgehammer, not to mention the fact that Kaevad could crush a stone with his bare hands – just like that. She was forcing herself to remain where she was but only because she knew that there was no way to run. What could she do? All alone. By herself. Without a weapon. It was pouring rain outside and Marn was far enough away that either of the two could easily catch her before she had even reached the edge of the forest.

Still, she also knew that she could not remain with these two any longer. At least not any longer than necessary, she acquiesced. Soneya may be young and inexperienced but she also knew a hopeless situation when she saw one. And this was one such situation. She was surrounded by magic-users. Of course. How could she not have noticed? Why had she even accepted anything from them at all? She should not even be here! She was fraternising with the enemy! What would her parents say? Heck, how would she be able to look at herself after this?!

“It’s understandable,” she finally managed to press out. “Magic isn’t natural.” Nothing more, nothing less. She didn’t want to get into the discussion now, but she could see why the son had run away, if he had really been adopted, there was no wonder. But still, there was something nagging at her as she contemplated both creatures with her. Neither of them seemed evil. On the contrary, they had both helped her and offered even more help, giving her shelter and warmth now. How evil could they really be just because there was magic involved? Then again.. would she even notice if they were trying to lull her in and make her believe she was safe when in fact they were planning on doing nasty things to her?

Not even the joke had managed to appease her now struggling and frightening being, shivering all over once again, but this time definitely not from the cold.

“What are you going to do to me?” she finally asked, willing herself to defiantly lift her chin as she looked from one to the other, but she instantly felt foolish at even having asked the question. They had done nothing at all to provoke such rude behaviour, but with her background and her understanding of magic she could not behave any other way.

Had she eyebrows in her current shape, Rhyn would have raised them. His display of strength wasn't wise, in the presence of Soneya, who was quite easily able to be seen as a true citizen of Marn. As Brad had told her, they hated and feared magic. A small chuff of laughter came at his attempt at a joke though. Soneya's words about magic confirmed her opinion of it. Rhyn shook her head with a slight sigh. There was naught to do about it, after all. She returned to cleaning her fur. It wasn't until the younger woman's question rang out that she felt the need to speak again.

Her head shot up and her eyes burned. There was no tolerance for nonsense, and her tone was motherly, but in a scolding fashion. "Ridiculous girl!" Her ears flattened as she spat the words out, looking at Soneya. Her tail, which had been curled in front of the girl, lashed out and back, singed slightly by the fire as she did so. Her already thick accent became harder understand. "Vaht do you tink ve are?! A low rumble came, and she took a deep breath to calm her riled temper. It was the lowlands. Too hot. Enough to set any leopard on edge. Her voice was slightly calmer, her accent in check. "Not captors. I sure you leave when you wish, without harm."

Carefully, Rhyn made sure her teeth were not showing in a snarl, and shook her head, causing the loose skin around her neck to move as well. "We did not ask who you were, what your opinion of us was. We have offered you shelter and warmth while it rains, without asking for payment. I, at least, will have no objection to ensuring you reach the walls of Marn safely and without harm." Once more, she was speaking carefully. "But have the decency to be grateful, youngling. You could be in the belly of a snake!" Her tail stretched straight behind her, and began to sinuously flip one way and then the other as she continued to speak, though it was almost inaudible, and in her birth language, ears flicking irritably. But she didn't move away from the human girl, still willing to provide warmth.

Her response was one he had expected, and as such, stood to move so he was before her, crouching slowly while looking stone-faced. He'd done this countless times before with frightened children from his village. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

"I for one intend to torture you." he said calmly before reaching out, fast as the thunder that clapped overhead, and tickled her sides. "I shall torture you with tickles, bad jokes and good intentions. I have every intention of protecting you from whatever may come little one." he told her, smiling as he tickled the girl.

Before Rhyn’s word even had time to fully settled in, the embarrassed blush was burning her cheeks however, Kaevad was already moving towards her, in what Soneya could only perceive as a menacing pace. In her fear, she remained paralysed and rooted to the spot until Kaevad was almost over her. Bursting into screams, she only realised what he was doing when she was already suddenly rolling on the floor laughing as he was tickling her sides. She didn’t want to, but she couldn’t help it, the tickles made her giggle like a silly little kid. And worst of all, it was rather enjoyable.

“Sorry Rhyn, sorryyyy,” she laughed as she inadvertently bumped into the woman as she desperately tried to get away from Kaevad. She really hoped she had not landed on top of her tail because that could’ve really hurt. Finally, she did manage and eagerly scrambled away, dragging the fur with her so she wouldn’t suddenly catch cold. Plus, she wanted to use it as a sort of protective shield against another tickling attack.

“Don’t ever do that again!” she panted, though her eyes were blinking in delight.
Trying to calm her breathing for a few more moments, she finally looked at both of them again and mumbled: “I’m sorry. It’s just all I know. I’ve been brought up this way. I can’t help that I’m afraid of magic, it scares me and...” Before she could say anything else that could get her into more trouble, she clamped her lips shut, refusing to say another word. They knew she was Puradyne, and thus they knew what she had been taught. There was no need to go into detail.

Rhyn's ears flattened at the shriek that came from Soneya, and as the girl fell away from Kaevad's attack, she pushed away, scrambling slightly. Automatically, she flowed fully into her feline form, a small sound escaping her as she tried to move away to avoid getting squashed. It only partly worked though, as she felt her tail pinned to the floor, the other woman rolling over it. As she felt it come free though, she made a disgruntled sound, sitting straight, licking down the ruffled fur of her shoulder, and then pulling her tail in to smooth the ruffled fur there as well.

Soneya's words reached her ears, and her irate manner disappeared. As a snow leopard she stood only two feet high at the shoulder, and half of her length was her thick tail alone. She sat her spotted body next to the girl and looked at her, forming her mouth so as to work human words around the fully feline mouth. "We know, Ssoneya." the 's' was difficult to manage, but it still came out a rich purr. "Look at me though. Am I scary? Look at Kaevad. Is he?" she paused, glancing at the large man, and dropping her jaw in a grin. "Alright bad example. But still. We are shifters. From what Brad said, there are shifters even in Marn, if few. They are looked down upon, but they are still functioning members of your city." He nudged Soneya with her head, rubbing against her in a similar fashion to a normal cat.

Kaevad chuckled and had began to follow her, hands up in a gesture of peace, when she stumbled in her apology. Kaevad's eyes saddened and he managed another smile. "Magic is as dangerous as a sword, Soneya. It is as helpful as an instant cure to pain, and wounds." He continued to move to her, slowly, easily and rubbed her upper arms when he reached her.

"Magic is a double edged blade child, and only the close minded fear something that may help them. Rhyn nor I have harmed you, quite the opposite in fact. We have the ability to, but will not." He paused to think a moment, listening to the rain before looking down at the girl. "I am as dangerous as an armed man, Soneya. At most, I can breathe fire, but a person without magic can throw a bottle with fire. I can crush a rock, another man can crush another's heart. With training, Soneya, you could be more dangerous than I. Does this make you a bad person? No. Does it make me a bad person? No. Different from each other, yes we are. You can't change into a rather large fire-breathing creature. But I cannot treasure life like you can. I'm too old."

"It is understandable to fear what you were raised to fear. But are you so close-minded that you would ignore the evidence before you and simply not take the experience as a lesson? Think on it little one." In a movement far too familiar, he kissed her fore-head before backing up and moving to the entrance, freezing when he saw people. Bandits. He smelt blood on them and pushed scales to the surface, his claws growing. He saw the malice and his throat and mouth lining thickened as his teeth elongated. He didn't even notice the pain.

"Gentleman." He husked, a question evident. "Ya gawt a nice cave there mate. Nice and big." They moved in. Kaleb prepared his wings to come to the surface. "Dun lewk like ye gawt enuff room fer us all, so why duncha clear out?" There were only half a dozen men, an easy task. Except for Soneya... He glanced back. "Rhyn, guard our friend, please. Gentlemen, I'd like to discuss this outside with you." They didn't budge. "We ken talk in 'ere." Kaevad shifted from foot to foot, claws and scales growing. He hated bandits. If not for Soneya, they'd be dead. "Then allow me to be clear, we will not be leaving. You will leave and keep your lives, or stay and pay for your stay with your hearts." The dragon purred at the thought.

"The decision is yours." Kaevad's wings rose from his back, menacing even as horns grew and his eyes glowed amber. Hisses of demon rose from the group. The bandit leader laughed. "Right, gonna scare us with some illusion, mage? Done that before. Look, we'll just kill you and take the women for tonight!" They roared in agreement. "I think not." Kaevad growled, fire rising in his maw. "Soneya, I implore you to look away. Rhyn, guard her please." And so began the fight.

For some reason, Soneya almost felt like crying. Rhyn joking about Kaevad’s appearance made her grin a little despite the oncoming tears, which Soneya almost couldn’t hold back anymore when Rhyn rubbed her head against her and Kaevad kissed her on the forehead. She did not even deserve such niceties with the way she had been treating them. Of course, she had only done what she knew best, run away screaming and raging at the presence of magic, but she held it against herself nonetheless. Because ultimately, Kaevad was right. A well-trained soldier was just as deadly as a well-trained mage. She had never looked at it from such a point of view, but it was true.

There was no time however to dwell on such musings as all of a sudden, Kaevad’s whole demeanour changed. For a brief moment, Soneya was scared that he was going to turn on her after all – a silly thought really – when suddenly a new voice drifted over from the entrance of the cave.
Without even waiting for Kaevad to tell Rhyn to guard her, Soneya scrambled to get out of harm’s way and as far away from the bandits as possible. “Where did they just come from?” she whispered to Rhyn, keeping close to the leopard. She was afraid of speaking any louder as she did not want to draw attention to herself, but apparently it was already too late for that anyway.

A chill crawled down her spine, achingly slow, at the mention of taking the women, and inadvertently, her hand clamped into Rhyn’s fur, not only as a means to steady herself but to make sure that Rhyn wasn’t taken away from her.
Magic or no, her protective senses were still at work and she didn’t want anything to happen to either of them, though there was no way, Soneya could help Kaevad fight these bandits. What with?
As if to reply to her own question, pain lanced through her skull, fierce and icy cold. Her headache exploded, worse than before, making her eyes blur from its intensity.

As hard as it was to turn away, Soneya did as Kaevad had asked her. She buried her head and most importantly her ears into the fur so as not to hear the noises of the fight. It seemed as though they had come to prove exactly what had Kaevad just tried to explain to her. Magic-users were not necessarily the bad people in this world. “Go, Rhyn, go help him,” Soneya suddenly said as she dared to look out and take a glimpse at the fight, despite Kaevad’s warning. “If you want to, if he needs it, help him. I’ll be fine.” Don’t let him be hurt. But the fight looked like one big mess to her and she didn’t understand what was actually happening.

Rhyn's ears twitched at the sound of the bandit's approaching, but, unfamiliar to the normal sounds in the lowlands, she dismissed them at first until she noted Kaevad's wariness. She nodded at his request that she stay with Soneya, though the man wouldn't see it, and felt her form shift into halfway between human and cat once more. She remained on all fours, appearing, to an unobservant eye, as though she were still a cat. Carefully, she reached out, stretching along the ground until she reached her pile of things. The small crossbow that was hooked to it, along with her containers of bolts, would be a good thing to have.

"Doesn't matter where they came from. They are here, now, and they are threatening us all. Were it the land that were trying to take you in a natural way, I would not object. But bandits are not natural, they are just bad people." Her eyes remained riveted to the scene, even as Soneya buried her head against her stocky body. Her fur was fluffed up, hackles raised and lips set in a snarl. But her voice still got through. She shook her head. "He will call if he needs me... And I have my crossbow. Distance is a valuable thing... Look away, Soneya. He doesn't want you to see him as he is." She turned for a moment, urging the girl to bury her face away once more.

Her thick-fingered hands were moving though, unhooking the small crossbow from her harness, her pale eyes looking for a clear shot in which she wouldn't hit Kaevad.

Allow me to take them.... the dragon hissed in his ear. Kaevad snarled and blocked a blade. You would kill the girls. Kaevad retorted, grabbing a wrist and crushing it under his hand. Savour what I allow, dragon. And with that, unleashed his vengeance. Claws reached out and grabbed two screaming skull skulls, his fangs bared. "Thou shalt not harm mine friends, demons!" he roared, ignoring the pain when one struck out and sliced the unprotected skin of his chest. Slow he began to crush them as the others gawked before the leader snapped out of it. "GET HIM!" They charged forward, giving Kaevad reason to grin in bloodlust. He brought the two screaming skulls together with a sickening crunch, dropping the two dead men to grab the first blade to be swung in his claw. Another caught his side-scales that he'd forced to the surface and skittered off. He laughed. "Thou's blade shall not pierce my scales, dolt."

He allowed the dragon forward slightly. He roared in triumph within Kaevads mind as fangs sank into a nearby throat. Blood pours into his mouth and down his throat, causing the dragon to purr in delight even as Kaevad jerks back, ripping it out with a snarl, shrieks of terror rising. They should be silenced, they would cause Soneya to fear him, this was unacceptable. There were only three more men, one with a broken wrist. One was stupid enough to charge forward - their leader. Pale with terror and fury, the man slashed out. deciding to play, the dragon dodged and blocked, grinning. "DIE DEMON!" He shrieked. Kaeavd punched his claw through his chest and grabbed the heart, smiling easily. "It is you, that shall die, demon." He hissed back, ripping it out as he turned to the others. "Now is your chance to leave!" He bellows. They ignore him and charge with a scream, their eyes wild. Beating muscle still in hand he spun, blocking the blade with a scaled arm, though he missed the other, blackly amused as it skittered across his side-scales.

"You never learn..." He growled before shoving the heart of their leader into the particularly loud mans mouth. Silenced like a pig with an apple in his mouth, Kaevad tore out his throat with a jerk of his claw, leaving the last one to get another lucky stab in. Looking down at the dagger buried in his shoulder, Kaevad looked up at the brutally terrified man. "You missed." He said it simply before grabbing the dagger, yanking it out of himself to stab it deep into the other mans heart. "That's where you were aiming." He told the man as he sank down, dying. Feeling particularly generous tonight, Kaevad snapped his neck, ending him quickly.

The fight had not taken long, had been one of the most quiet ones he'd been in, but still. He turned to Soneya, curled close into Rhyn and winced. He tossed the heart away before bending and grabbing a body. He tossed it over his shoulder with a grunt. Another followed and two more were grabbed in claws. Hefting them, he dragged the 4 he had to another cave and tossed them in, out of sight and mind for now. The other two followed more slowly as Kaevad shifted back to fully human. He made his way back, fully human, in pain and exhausted. The rain had wished most of the blood from him, but a quick dip in the river had finished the job.

He entered the cave slowly, keeping his eyes on Soneya. "I am sorry... you had to see me like that. But I could not allow them to harm you." He looked away and bowed his head, ignoring the blood dripping down he made his way to his spot to sit and possibly rest, his entire body aching. 2 shifts and de-shifts in one day... it took a toll on him, especially with no sun.

For a long moment, Soneya didn’t say anything at all. She didn’t curl away from Rhyn nor did she uncramp the fingers that were still curled into her fur. Shiver after shiver was running down her spine but not only from the horrid sounds of the battle or from fear of what Kaevad really was capable of but quite simply also because she was starting to feel very cold again and her headache was killing her.

The quiet that had slowly begun to settle over the cave was doing her good and after what seemed like ages, Soneya finally untangled herself from Rhyn, lightly patting her soft fur a little in a gesture of thanks, before she shuffled over to the fire. She was still not replying to Kaevad though but at least she was looking at him now. What was there to say? She didn’t know and frankly, her head was too fuzzy to form coherent sentences.

Instead, since she had nothing with her that could in any way ease the hurt he was obviously suffering due to the countless wounds on his body, she picked up the bear pelt he had laid out for her and dragged it over to where he was sitting in order to drape it over him. “It’s alright,” she finally murmured, her eyes halfway closing as she went to get another pelt that she laid out for Rhyn before she wedged herself into the spot left between Kaevad, the pelt and the fire.

Rhyn watched as Kaevad tore through the bandits as though they were straw. Even her harsh mountain raising and the way she hunted in her cat form had not prepared her for the way he sliced through, spreading blood everywhere. The scent of it filled her nose. But she could see the tide of battle was in their favor. Few men would be able to take down a dragon-shifter without a lucky shot. And Kaevad was not unwounded, she could she as he swiftly moved to clear the bodies from the area.

The rain would hopefully help wash the blood away, but it remained there, in her nostrils, at the entrance of the cave. She stayed still for Soneya's benefit, smiling a little when the girl untangled herself from her plush fur. Rhyn moved on her own path, rising to two feet as she dropped her things back where they had been before, and glancing at the clouds outside. "It looks like it may continue to rain for quite a while." She avoided stepping in the blood as she tried to get a better look at the sky.

When she turned back towards the others, Soneya was tucked against Kaevad. A small smile tugged at her expression. She will come to accept things as they are. Gracefully, she made her way back to the group, her eyes scanning over Kaevad. "It tires you, yes?" The question was quiet, her own shifting apparent as she moved back into her fully feline form. Without thought, she sat close to Kaevad's side, willing to share warmth with him but not sure if he would be okay with it. Here in the lowlands, it would be much harder to die of hypothermia, but all the same, Soneya seemed to be vulnerable to the chill of the rain. It was quite pleasant to Rhyn. "Dragons... are a form of lizard, no? Lizards need... " she searched for the word. "Sunlight, warmth? Do you chill easy?" Her eyes were curious, and it was apparent in the way her spotted body was held that she was not cold in the least.

She was close to him, and shivering. She'd come to him via her own will... but was she still scared? As Kaevad wrestled with his thoughts, the cat moved to check the weather. He looked up when she asked her question though, and hummed an affirmative. "Aye... my changes... they're not purely magic. I have the ability, aye, but it's physical." He drew the pelt to his chest and just under his arm as he drew the lass closer to him.

"I don't want you rolling over and burning yourself." Kaevad murmured before answering the cat's second question. "Aye. I'm... cold blooded it seems. I rarely am sick, however, cold temperatures slow me. The more sun and warmth I have in me, the faster I can move." Kaevad carefully slid his free arm under the girls head, pillowing her from the hard ground, not bothering to try and defend himself. He did not wish her any discomfort, and so kept his grasp on her loose and easily escape-able.

There was a moment of silence, during which Kaevad simply rested, and enjoyed the closeness of others. The dragon was silent, momentarily sated by the bandits blood, and the human was silent, sated by contact. Kaevad had silence at last, and someone to protect. Unconsciously, he made a low purring noise, similar to a growl but content. Soneya smelt nice, the fire was warm and the fur at his back that was Rhyn, was soft. All was well in his eyes.

Instead of escaping his touch, even though he graciously left her the room to do so if she so wished, Soneya leaned in closer to Kaevad. They both could use the heat and there was no denying that she felt safe in his arms. She had already felt that when he had first picked her up and the fight had not changed that. Almost on the contrary actually. It made her realise that as long as he was around, nothing could happen to her, and even though she still believed that magic was not something good or something to be trifled with, it had helped them now.

Resting and slowly heating up again was easing her headache a little again as well. How she cursed them! Plaguing her almost constantly! However, seeing that the haze had lifted a little, Soneya was able to scramble together what Rhyn and Kaevad had just talked about. Though she was a little late in putting in her comment, she hesitantly asked: “Why does it hurt?”

Seeing that she only had ever heard one side of the story regarding magic, she had no clue why shifting would hurt them, after all, magic should ease that, right? “Does it hurt for you too, Rhyn?” Maybe it was just because Kaevad was so big that it was hurting him more? Big person, big change, smaller person, small change? Shaking her head a little at her own silly thoughts, she wrapped her arms around herself more tightly and tried not to figure out things she didn’t understand.

Rhyn curled around behind Kaevad, her tail looping over him and Soneya slightly. The questions made sense. "It does not pain me. I was born to shift. The magic that it takes resides within me, within my blood. It feels as natural as walking to me, but I have grown up shifting often." She looked at Kaevad, unsure. "I never hear of a dragon-shifter before Kaevad. I assume that they are not common, or not born that way. Also... dragons are big. When I shift, I remain roughly same size. " She tilted her head, raising it to look at Kaevad. "Were you born shifter, or bitten?" Those were the only two ways she knew of to become a shifter. It either was in your blood or magically transmitted like a disease.

Her tail shifted, the tail raising and falling, black against snow-grey. She couldn't stop the smile she felt come on when she noted how Soneya was curling back closer against Kaevad.

Kaevad didn't like the question. His eyes darkened and he held her a little tighter before forcing himself to relax. "That, is a very, very long story. For the sake of answering your questions, however, I will keep it short. I was born a human, 220 years ago to an apothecary. I was raised and trained in the arts of medicine and poisons." He took a deep breath before continuing. "A strange man came into our village one day and offered me a trade - the physical strength I so craved for my potion brewing abilities. You see... there is a very rare potion which enables the drinker to obtain the properties of the animal the potion is brewed for." Kaevad closed his eyes.

"It took a year, but we did it. My master drank it incorrectly and died... I took twice the dose. My changes are not natural in any aspect... and as suck I merely draw on my dragon half to shift... it does pain me as there is no magical assistance. Or if there is, it is very, very minimal."