The reported sightings were concerning - he had enough troubles without adding the
Order taking a greater interest in his lands.
After a quiet discussion with his wife over his trip, and quiet preparations, he led a small group of chosen guards and two Order members who were staying anyway. May as well have them in on the hunt before they heard wild rumors and accused him of sheltering monsters.
Well, scaled ones.
The hunt took time, but lead to a cave. The bodies of likely bandits were piled outside the entrance, clearly treated with some kind of respect, though also clearly looted of coin or valuables.
Their route seemed shrouded in the bone-freezing mist seeping between the links of mail. The maze only solved after someone finally started marking the wall, and finding themselves entering the chamber over and over in a loop.
. . .
The scaled abomination hooks claws into the shaft of the man's boot, and locked eyes - blood-drowning and cold lizard eyes to nut brown and tired human ones.
"Save the child."
— Not Yet Added - Hunt, Mist, Whisper
Buried within a pack, a copper skull glowed as the temporary inhabitant settled herself back in place - like putting on an old winter coat and finding it still fit.
Or at least, mostly fit.
There were clothes, a blanket, something that felt like a book, several whetstones of various sizes, and her mouth had been stuff with socks.
She would roll her eyes, if she still had them. she could feel the nearby presence of her former ally, and reach out with magic to him.
"Well. That's where you've been all this time - haunting a sword? Now why would you let yourself do a thing like that?"
A low growl from their old mental connection made her chuckle.
"You didn't! Oh, but you did! You were caught by surprise - you, the Razer of Fields who swore none could trap you because you've seen them all lifetimes before. If only the icicle could see you
lazing about as a sword. Now, tell me everything!"
She forgot to keep to the connection, and the pack stopped bouncing along.
"Sir, did you say something?"
She pulled back from the copper relic, but swore she heard an echo of the early days when things were simple.
Kotzuiyrn hadn't laughed like that since the
Triad had their first victory after
their mortals had agreed to be allies. This time, the laughter was at her own expense - being forced to leave her own relic skull because the last thing she wants was to be dragged into conversation with more mortals. But the laughter was nice to hear.
Maybe him haunting the sword was a good thing.
The faint connection between two near-deities faded away as she moved herself back into her library. The copper skeleton creaked with movement, wire-held bone-wings scarring the floor more, as she made herself lumber to platform below the dancing model of the known universe. Maybe she should pause her work on her plans and reassess what the other dragon was planning.
And then find the glacier
Kaygys was hiding under - he owed her more than she ever owed him now.
— Not Yet Added - Possess, Haunt, Echo
The Shadow/MIrror thing gives me goosebumps it's go cool and inspiring for some awesome horror lore :D
Creator of Araea, Megacorpolis, and many others.
I'm glad - I didn't state it in that short bit, but the Shadow Distortions are also only found in the Undermountains (very deep underground where the Dwarves live), so I am glad I was able to convey the potential horror of the Distortions (and how the Dwarves try to protect themselves)