|
Post by Fury on Jun 6, 2009 19:44:44 GMT -5
Aleiko was impressed. If something deserved being checked even more than five times, it meant something important. Not to mention it clearly did indeed involve his growing area of expertise with spirits and he too grinned. "Oh this is getting exciting!"
"Well it seems they're enthusiastic, Tia. Reminds me a lot of us before Thanthero decided to try to bring the mood down with his angst," Tatsu said teasingly.
|
|
|
Post by Venus on Jun 7, 2009 3:11:24 GMT -5
Tiamat chuckled as they followed the passage around a bend, down a slope into the deepest sections of the Earth.
"Oh yes, we were young. And then Thanthero made us old with worry!"
"Bah. Wasn't my fault."
"I beg to differ.'
The passage suddenly opened up, the spell lights falling away to reveal the largest cavern in the entire construction; it was massive, much bigger than any of the other chambers and easily big enough to accommodate three fully grown dragons, if not more. Scrolls lined the walls, and in one section of the room, a dusty pentacle sat unused.
Aisling looked around the familiar walls of the main casting chamber and resisted the urge to grin like a maniac.
|
|
|
Post by Fury on Jun 7, 2009 8:28:33 GMT -5
Aleiko's talons chinked against the stone more than usual as he tried to keep himself from pacing from excitement. Unlike Aisling he was unable to keep himself from grinning quite brightly. There was so many questions he could ask about spirits! Yet he didn't know which ones he preferred to know... And would Tatsu even want to answer them? Still he was excited if not for anything but just preforming the spell.
"Calm down Aleiko, you're looking a bit over enthusiastic. You too Aisling," Tatsu laughed, "Then again I understand why you're over enthusiastic."
|
|
|
Post by Venus on Jun 7, 2009 8:36:00 GMT -5
Thanthero watched the apprentices with a lazy smirk. It was a shame he couldn't remember being that young; it would be entertaining to torment them a little, but unfortunately they had more important work to do.
"We doing this or not?"
His faux-impatient question earned him a sharp glare from Tiamat as she carefully picked up the single scroll lying innocuous on the large wooden desk in the corner. It was looped many time over, sealed with wax and magic that was burning even her - and she'd written the damn thing.
"It would be good if we had a body first, Thanthero. Unless you really did fail and just don't want to say?"
The black dragon shrugged.
"Charon owed me a favour. This power sharing thing does work well sometimes, I suppose." He sniffed. "And what's a few deaths if I get what I want?"
His talons clicked together and a shroud lifted away, rippling white and black and all the shades in between in the still air of the chamber. Beneath it, Tatsu's body lay quiet.
|
|
|
Post by Fury on Jun 7, 2009 8:43:28 GMT -5
Tatsu looked down at the curled up blue dragon that was himself. It was an almost sort of gaze, longing and loneliness mixed in with joy and relief. "...I really do owe you two for this."
Charon...? Why did that name sound familiar? Had Tiamat mentioned it to him at some point or had a spirit? Aleiko was sort of confused but he didn't say anything about it but rather looked down at the still body as well. How had time left all the scales and fur completely untouched? Questions again flooded him.
|
|
|
Post by Venus on Jun 7, 2009 8:49:29 GMT -5
Thanthero stepped back, taking up his customary leaning position against the wall and out of range of Tiamat's magic.
"Bah. You owed me before, no change."
That earned him another glare as Tiamat moved over to Tatsu's body, the fizzle of magic loud as the scroll unrolled; it was longer even than the folds suggested, the parchment pooling in small islands around the dragoness's feet as she sat carefully. One hand went to her mane, deftly untangling a braid and loosing a rosary - the beads were pure and bone-white, gleaming like delicate china in the light of the spells.
"Sorry, Tatsu; I'm going to have to bind you in place for this to work."
Aisling, if possible, was now even more excited. She was going to see her mentor use shaman techniques as well as magic, and the idea of being able to do something like this made the blood hum in her veins. She disregarded the chill she felt at the name 'Charon', instead firing off an inquisitive question.
"You're using your favourite rosary?"
Tiamat grinned. "Wouldn't trust my friend to any other, would I?"
|
|
|
Post by Fury on Jun 7, 2009 8:57:11 GMT -5
Tatsu bowed his head in a nod. "Do as you need, Tia. I'm more than happy to allow it if it means success."
A shudder ran down Aleiko's long spine as he glanced over at Thanthero leaning against the wall. How could Tiamat be friends with somebody who had such a dark aura? Then again he supposed it was wrong to doubt Tia. She had many friends and some in strange places. Perhaps Thanthero was less of a threat than he seemed. Or maybe not. Instead of asking he shifted his gaze over to the long scroll that had been unfolded. This was going to be a painstaking process but if it went well the feel of success would no doubt be incredible.
|
|
|
Post by Venus on Jun 7, 2009 9:04:56 GMT -5
Tiamat offered one last grin before her magic flowed into the rosary; the beads became something more than white, almost blinding as they separated from the string and arranged themselves in a loose circle around Tatsu. Only the feather, blood red and bound in gold, hung before the dragoness like a drop of blood in suspended motion.
Aisling squinted at the beads; she could barely make out the binding spells written in between, but they looked complex. 'So this is why she never used this one...
Tiamat turned her attention to Tatsu's physical form, eyes sliding shut as she activated the scroll with a careful brush. On the page, the spell shifted. Runes melted into the air and appeared in careful configuration, a cautious net. It was here that Tiamat paused.
"Aisling, Aleiko... and Than, if you could- will you each check these and make sure you can't see any errors? I don't trust myself."
Aisling, eager to be of help and play a role in this complex spell, stepped carefully through the haze of their mentor's magic. Thanthero, sighing, followed, cutting a swathe of his own as he stopped before the working.
|
|
|
Post by Fury on Jun 7, 2009 9:10:39 GMT -5
Aleiko gave a nod and followed just behind Thanthero. He started looking over the spells at almost an impossible speed, his eyes darting over the little written marks. It was either skill or an adrenaline high that pressed him on as he continued to read over what the net was made of. "So far I see no problems, Tia," he said in an almost flat tone. He was too concentrated to have much more emotion in his speech.
|
|
|
Post by Venus on Jun 7, 2009 9:16:02 GMT -5
Aisling was skipping over the runes with intense concentration, claws tracing the lines and murmuring the names in a quiet ripple of unspoken magic. "I can't see anything wrong..." she murmured in between rows.
Thanthero took in the whole spell-net with a measured gaze, yellow eyes sharp and fast as they darted across its surface. "You know already that it's fine." he stated, stepping back. "Five times? You wouldn't let it be wrong."
"Still-"
"It's fine." His voice was flat and brooked no argument. "Do it."
|
|
|
Post by Fury on Jun 7, 2009 9:24:49 GMT -5
Alieko finished his looking-over and nodded his confirmation as well. "It's fine, Tiamat. Though the sixth didn't hurt I can't find any errors to speak of. It's perfect. No loopholes or anything left open."
The Dragon's tail swept the ground in an almost wagging motion as he spoke. This was just a twitch of annoyance in a way. There was no need to worry. Though he was generally shy of course, he was too preoccupied to think of anything other than the spell itself. He took a few moments to glance back over it and shook his head. "Still nothing. It really is perfect."
|
|
|
Post by Venus on Jun 7, 2009 9:30:41 GMT -5
Aisling nodded, stepping back to bump shoulders with her friend. "I agree. It's fine."
Tiamat exhaled, scales and fur bathed gold in the light of the spell. "All right; here we go. The first step is to revitalise the body, the second to transfer Tatsu into it, and the third a binding to tie his soul to the body. The fourth is to acclimatise him to having a body, the fifth to acclimatise the body to having a spirit, and the final clause brings back life. I hope. Okay."
Tiamat allowed her aura to swell in the small space, building behind the containing force of the spell until- It gave way; the room was flooded with light and magic. Somewhere, beads shattered. Thanthero hissed shielding one eye against the glare while keeping the other on Tiamat and Tatsu, and the remains of the white rosary scattered across the floor.
(I'll let you decide what happens. ^.~)
|
|
|
Post by Fury on Jun 7, 2009 9:39:25 GMT -5
Tatsu's voice echoed in a yell though the cavern. Pain seared through him even in spirit form. Then his vision went blank. The bright light from both the beads as well as his spirit filled the cavern, lingering for a moment or two and then that too was gone.
"No!" Aleiko cried out, a talon reaching out to where a few blue motes were floating downwards to the cave floor. They flickered then died out as well. "...Tia?" the young apprentice asked. He was shaking. Had he missed something? Where was Tatsu? "...Is he okay?"
(bwahaha cliff hanger >3)
|
|
|
Post by Venus on Jun 7, 2009 9:43:14 GMT -5
(Nu!!! D:)
Tiamat wavered, mauve eyes strangely vacant and blank as her legs gave out beneath her. She had no answer for her worried apprentice. Aisling, trying desperately to use her shaman abilities to track Tatsu, quickly ran over to the blue dragoness. "Tiamat? Did it work??"
Thanthero was perfectly still. His yellow gaze was looking beyond the chamber, beyond reality. His jaw was set, a growl rumbling from the depths of his throat and chest. "You're not going that way, Tatsu. You'll have to get past me first."
|
|
|
Post by Fury on Jun 7, 2009 9:49:38 GMT -5
A sort of silence hung about the chamber as the majority of them apparently held their breath. This wasnt the intended result! What'd gone wrong? Or had something gone wrong at all? "Wait! Look!" Aleiko said, pointing down at the blue dragon's body. "Can you sense that?" He was of course referring to the spirit energy that had managed to surround the still form of Tatsu in a curtain-like state. It drifted lazily then draped over the body and was gone.
There was a quiet kind of groan and a sort of slow movement from Tatsu. "Urg...what hit me?" he asked, looking up at his friends who were of course staring down.
|
|