Private Tales Beyond the Borderlands

[Evirea Nymbos]

A pair of Thanasian dragon eggs disappeared from their nests. That was enough to stir riders into a panicked, frenzied search for the culprits. The shattered shell of a dragon’s egg was found by a rider and dragon in the treacherous wilds near the Wall. The embryo was mangled, its fetid corpse baked in the sun and left to be picked at by scavengers. A child of a god, murdered and desecrated. The other, missing.

The punishment for the theft of dragon eggs and the slaying of a dragon: death. The Thunder of Thanasis would live up to its name and strike swift and hard.

A white dragon soared overhead, bright sunlight illuminating his snow-white hide. Evirea silently mulled over the mission details. Thanasis learned to guard its eggs well. How did two get whisked away? She and her dragon investigated the crime scene themselves. Footprints scattered around the broken egg, some human… others not. Some turned to face one direction, and then they vanished. She felt tension in her dragon’s bond then, not simply disturbed by the death of his kin, but there was something more to it.

It wasn’t just the principle of dragon riders meting out justice to slayers of their beloved dragons, a matter, to them, not much unlike the surviving family of a murder victim being allowed to execute the killer with their own hands. The practicality of the matter was that they needed dragonkind to catch and confront the thieves. Time was of the essence, and only dragon wings could win the race against time.

Their pursuit took them to the Borderlands, where they would likely have to venture beyond the wall’s safety. Soldiers cleared the way for the white dragon as he swooped down, claws digging into the wall’s hard outer surface, not unlike the outer shell of a dragon’s egg. Taivas’ four wings folded neatly against his slim body, and he raised his head and snorted. Evirea lifted her visor and tilted her head back, searching for the pair who would accompany her and her dragon on their chase. Here they would rendezvous before they made the perilous trek out into Malakath.

Out in the arid wilderness of northern Malakath, small and frail humans needed the might of dragons to survive.

Trask

 

[Trask]

Trask watched the magestic approach of his partner and was ready when they touched down.
Striding up towards Evirea and her Dragon Taiva, leaving a respectful distance he raised his hand and hailed her. Recognising her as an equal and partner in this venture having been briefed by messenger beforehand.
"Well met."
His voice was a caged animal waiting to be released. Already he had been known to keep his helmet on in public. A grim visage of death and metal.
"We set out immediately. BALOR, TO ME!"
The remaining soldiers scrambled away as from under the shade of the guard tower scuttled the marred and scorched form of Balor the Wyvern. It's face, a mirror of Trask's own helm, was stripped of muscle with only healed scale and skin over one side.
Lacking forepaws or the breath of its cousins a Wyverns power was in its light weight maneuvers and stinging tail, capable of killing most creatures.
As Balor approached Trask tucked his hand under it's great jaw and tapped his helm to its beak before mounting it in a swift motion.
He checked his bow and lance were there and secured himself to his saddle with harness and pin.
"Shall we?"

Evirea Nymbos

 

[Evirea Nymbos]

“Hail, and well met,” Evirea replied. “Our orders are to bring the suspects back alive if possible for trial, but lethal force is authorized. My dragon knows their scent, but the trail went cold just before reaching the Borderlands.”

Then there was the fact they got past the wall and evaded the many eyes patrolling it in the first place, including dragons’ eyes. How did they slip by? The trail of footprints that ended abruptly also indicated they took off in flight. Evirea furrowed her brow in thought, but they had little time to waste. She could think while they flew.

“High chance our targets have mages or dragonkin amongst them.”

She wasn’t aware of any grown dragons mysteriously going missing, but the whereabouts of dragonkin tended not to be so closely monitored. The rider took stock of her companions, both clearly battle-hardened. She only had a bow in hand and—Luthalarix forbid she needed them—a dagger and shortsword at her hip. If she needed a melee weapon, she would’ve been in dire straits. She had no intention of even landing if it could’ve been helped.

“I'm ready," she finished, patting one of the assortment of saddlebags dangling at Taivas’ side. “Let's go.” Evirea shut her visor and dug her heels in. Taivas responded by flaring all four wings open. As he kicked off the wall, a gust of wind lifted him farther skyward, wind that would also help Balor in flight.

Trask

 

[Trask]

Following after Taiva, Balor sprung from the wall into a gentle soar that belied the aggressive nature of the beast.
The mind of the Wyvern was momentarily distracted by the scent of the dragon which transfered partially to Trask.
Dragons were considered a higher form culturally on Thanasis. Living Gods to some but Trask could only admit that they were beautiful in flight.
Soaring, rising, gliding and falling. By comparison the the smooth and gleaming marbled tones of Taiva, Balor's hide was rough scales of dark green, almost black in some places. A natural camoflauge for the canopies of Malakath's great forests.
Trask brough him low as the pair of riders traversed the open plains. Below them life was small and vulnerable.

Balor bucked against him. Wanted to soar ahead, be faster than the White Dragon, to prove himself better than the smaller one.
"Hush, She will lead, we follow."
Trask's bond was still somewhat new, he found it easier to issue verbal commands than go on intuition when he felt the need to take command over Balor's more impulsive instincts. His gloved hand patted the thick hide at the base of the Balor's neck, he liked getting rubbed there. It eased him somewhat.
"There's time enough, find the egg. Kill the thieves."
He remembered the request to take them alive if possible but anyone willing to risk stealing dragon eggs would be loath to give up their prize once they had it.
Trask expected them to fight hard and die screaming.

"THEY CANNOT BE FAR THOUGH I SEE NO SIGN."
His call to Evirea came as he and Balor cruised up to the side of the White Dragon and her rider.
"PERHAPS IT IS AS YOU SUSPECT AND MAGIC AIDS THEM."
Trask disliked magic and did not care who knew it.

On the earth below a herd of Kaltos, giant louse-like beings the size of horses, moved southwards for better foraging grounds.
Trask watched them move like a great shadow over the land.

Evirea Nymbos

 

[Evirea Nymbos]

The white dragon’s head curled around as the wyvern flew in close. Evirea waved in acknowledgment.

“The herd might be trampling any visible tracks and masking their scent, too!” she called back.

Evirea’s dragon swooped over the herd, head angled downward to peer at them in curiosity. However, as small as Taivas was compared to other Thanasian dragons and dragonkin, he was still a predator, and the creatures scattered at the beast’s uncomfortable closeness. A wingtip grazed one of their shells as he passed. It jolted and shoved past another Kaltos. Evirea pulled on the reins and dug her heels into her dragon’s hide, willing him to ascend. The herd seemed to calm as the drake distanced himself, but they slowed and began packing together.

The dragon rider raised her hand and motioned forward. A swift current of cool wind filled Taivas’ four wings, and the dragon sped forward, easily passing over the grounded creatures. Trask and Balor would’ve been carried ahead as well if they chose to use the lingering current.

“We’ll fly ahead of them!”

 

[Trask]

Balor snapped after Taiva in anger. His fragile ego hated chasing after a dragon.
"Balor, Hush."
Trask chided him again.
It was easy to forget the animal underneath him was just that. An animal. No dragon, no matter how magestic, was a god.
He dug his spurs into Balor's hide and urged him after Taiva aware that he would have apologise for Balor.

Swooping down ahead of the Kaltos was like chasing an earthquake.
The rumble of hundreds of chitinous legs pounding the earth would have sent many animals fleeing in terror.
They spared low and looked for tell of any kind.

There was little to go on.
No wagon tracks or carelessly concealed campfires.
Whomever took the egg, they were not fools.
"I SEE NOTHING. WHAT ABOUT YOUR SIDE?"
Trask called over.

Evirea Nymbos

 

[Evirea Nymbos]

Playful, small, and friendly as Evirea’s white dragon was, his rider’s will molded him into an obedient beast of war when she desired it. She felt the hot surge of retaliatory aggression surge through their bond as the wyvern snapped at Taivas, but she quelled it and demanded he focus on the mission she gave him. The white dragon arched his neck, angled his head toward his rider, and snorted. He left the herd behind, coming upon open ground yet untouched by the Kaltos. Ivory talons dug into the parched earth as the dragon landed, and he lowered his nose to the ground to take in the scents that lingered on it. A jolt of excitement reverberated through their bond again. Faint footprints had disturbed the dusty earth long before. The white dragon craned his neck and pointed his snout westward.

“Taivas picked up the trail again!” Evirea called back to Trask. “They seem to be following the coastline. The footprints are pointing westward!”

The rider nudged her dragon, and he vaulted into the air in the blink of an eye. How long the trail held, she didn’t know, but if the thieves were using magic to try to throw off pursuers, maybe it had lapsed here. Magic only lasted so long, after all, and Arethil’s greatest mages tended not to live on Malakath if it could be helped.

But if there was a mage on Malakath who would be willing to steal dragon eggs, chances were they served Thagretis.