Love for Dragons & Hatred for Humans

[Lilith ArchLight]

Lilith finally makes her ways up the Mt.Rei. With her magic power of instant teleportation spell, she was able to climb the huge mountain one blink at time. Despite of her having trouble in breathing when climbing the higher ground, she are still excited and enthusiastic about it. It is because she will able to meet something that she actually love, dragons.

Even when climbing the mountain using magic, Lilith slowly getting exhausted due to the size and height of this mountain. Catching up her breath, she tries to move forward in order to meet with the dragons she loved, just like how she met Zephel's dragon back then. "H-huh, climbing this mountain is tougher than I thought it would be," Lilith thought as she tries to catches her breath. The higher she climb the mountains, the harder she is able to breath normally. With her fragile body, taking a couple step now actually is a heavy task for her.

"Calm down, they should be nearby..." Lilith thinks as she calm herself before focusing her body to use her magic. Concentrating her magic, she then release a faint light towards the area. It's her field vision, a harmless area magic in order to detect anything that moves whenever they touch the area around her. Unlike before where she can extend her vision to almost a mile radius at ease, she is having a hard time to reach not even quarter of a mile. Her body are having a hard time to adapt with a mountain surrounding but despite the hardship, she tries to extend her vision, until she spot something. "F-found it!"

Gaining a sudden burst of energy, Lilith ran up towards the place where she spot something moving where she pick up via her magic. After she reaches nearby the place she sense, she stops as she suddenly felt tired and breathless due to the running. As she tries to breath, she then heard a sound. Not just on, but a couple of noise made by the thing that she clearly wanted to meet. "I-I did it, I finally found em!" Lilith smiles widely as she manages to spot a couple of younger dragons in the area where she arrived.

Lilith actually wanted to use her extend her field vision more in order to fully see the dragons in details, but she might scares them or agitate them. Thus she relies in her ears and instinct as she moves one step at a time in order to observe things from a safer distant. Despite not be able to touch em, she felt very happy to be nearby them. Just as she wanted to take something from her bag, she felt another presence entering the area. Sh thought it was another dragon, but there's another thing that caught her attention via her field vision. A figure of a person.

"H-human!?"

[Tyr]

Some things just don't change. Eggs hatch and hatchlings grow at an exponential rate, only to get lost in the cliff faces of Mt. Rei. Tyr was searching for six-month-old hatchlings that have lost their way as they took their first flight. As the overlord of the riders, partners of the dragons that lived in the mountain, this was a routine flight, one that always took place after a clutch of eggs were born. But the young ones' mother was unusually distraught after she had counted the ones who had returned, roaring and bellowing in the nursery caves of the Weyr. She was a first-time mother and proved to be more protective of her offspring than the veteran brooders, so the Weyrleader immediately dispatched a small squad of young riders to look for the missing hatchlings to make sure the young ones were safe and ensure that the rampaging dragonness in the Weyr would not harm anyone, or worse, alarm the Queen.

Both he and Orlith certainly did not want to face the wrath of Ramoth the Golden.

Dutifully, dragon and rider flew near the rocky ledges of the mountain. It was a dangerous feat that most riders do not master for years. It required great concentration and connection between the two, but if there was anyone in the land who can ride, that person would be Tyr. Orlith was flying so fast that he was forced to wear the flight goggles he typically abhorred to use. The Silver flashed over ledge and crevasse like a lightning bolt, swift and precise. She bellowed a long call, a howl for hatchlings so they would be easier to locate. Sadly, there was no reply.

Mt. Rei rarely felt so big as it did now. Tyr lamented the fact that there were so few riders he could sent out.

"It was unwise to let them take wing when the gusts were too strong."

"Hindsight will not help us find them, Orlith. We should keep looking." Tyr patted his large dragonness' shoulder and braced himself at her bruising acceleration. Like all dragons, Orlith did not stop growing, and she had grown into one of the largest females in the Weyr at such a small span of time. She was already twenty meters in length, almost twice that if one measured her wingspan. So when the Silver flapped her wings, Tyr must make sure he was holding on, otherwise he would have a swift meeting with the ground.

They searched for another hour before Orlith decided to land on a cliff that accommodated her size. She informed Tyr that the place smelled of the missing hatclings and told him that they must search the nearby caves in case the frightened babes sought shelter in them. The Weyrleader agreed and jumped off his mount's withers. The Silver took off to poke her head into one of the larger caves, while Tyr investigated a smaller one nearby. There were marks of claws and a trail that clearly showed a young dragon's tail being dragged along as it walked. These were promising signs.

"My lady," Tyr thought to Orlith, "I believe they are here."

"There is something else nearby."

"Trouble?"

"I do not think so. It is a young human girl. Alone."

Tyr furrowed his brows in bemusement. There was no way for a solitary human to climb Mt. Rei. Its cliffs were steep, and those who were not used to the thin air of such altitudes were in danger of fainting, or worse, asphyxiating. Not to mention wild dragons would not think twice on punishing an intruder, fellow dragon or not.

"Orlith, coax the juveniles out. I'll scout this girl out."

He feared that the girl was abducted by a wild dragon, as they would sometimes do due to envy of their brethren who had bonded with riders. He just hoped that the girl was still alive. Then again, if she was dead, Orlith would have told him.

He leaped from one outcrop onto another, going towards where the Silver had sensed the girl. With silver flame, he conjured his bo staff just in case he must fight off an unwieldy wild animal or if the girl proved to be the trouble herself. In his years as Mt. Rei's defender, Tyr had seen and experienced many things regarding dragons. There were people who braved climbing the mountain to steal precious dragon eggs, or slay a dragon to prove their valor, and these people have been men and women alike. He just hoped that this person was no malignant intruder.

Soon, Tyr found his query after jumping down a number of meters, and just like how Orlith had told him, the person was indeed a young girl. She was alone, unharmed, and healthy, which was good unless she was on the mountains for illicit purposes. The Weyrleader squatted on the boulder he had landed in, noticing tell-tale signs that the hatchlings they were looking for had been spooked by this girl's presence. It seemed like they scurried up towards the cave they were hiding in to avoid her.

"This is a long way up the mountain, Miss." He told her genially, "What can I do for you?"

[Lilith ArchLight]

At first Lilith would want to actually point her gun in defends and because the person whom are approaching her is a human, but then she remembered about Zephel's information about his friend, a dragon-rider like him that lives in this area. Clinching her fist, she tries to hold up her anger since this person might be the person that Zephel once mentioned to her before. She do not want to harm Zephel's friend despite her nature in hating human.

"Before I answer your questions, let me know one thing," she spokes as she tries to be as polite as possible before she turn around to face Tyr. "Are you happened to be the one that supervised these area as a dragon rider?" Lilith said with cold tone as her pale eyes look sharply at Tyr. She felt uncomfortable in trying to be nice. She then having a hard time to breath as she breath rather slow and unstable. It is seems that controlling her anger are still far too hard for her, especially in a low-air area up on the mountain. One of Lilith's hand are hidden inside her clothing where she hide her gun. She will not try to trust anyone, especially human that she just met.

[Tyr]

Tyr's brows raised in wonder and fascination. The girl was spunky, he'd give her that, but didn't she know that she wasn't the one who was supposed to be asking questions right now? He scratched his chin, where wisps of a stubble grew itchy. Was he so much of a hermit nowadays to shave? The Weyrleader pushed that thought away and stood up. He jumped from his perch and landed on the same level as the girl. He was very aware of the gun in her possession, but with his dragon nearby, a dragonrider had little to fear.

"If you're looking for the guy who guards this mountain, then I'm your man." He opted not to tell her that there were others beyond the clouds. Mt. Rei always had a small fleet of riders to defend it if need be. "Now may I ask who you are, Miss? This is hardly a good place for you. A wildling could have made a snack out of you. Luckily, I found you before any of them did."

[Lilith ArchLight]

Lilith realized that the man did not come here by feet. Focusing her ears, she can hear the breathing of a rather large living being. "Dragon's like of Zephel's?" just for a moment her thought gets a bit excited, then man suddenly replies to her queries. She narrows her eyes as this person are looking down on her. Well, it is natural that anyone would think of her just as a young girl. She then decides to not show this man that she is a magician thus ending her magic flow in her body as a precautions.

"I'm just a traveller whom fell in love with dragons. I merely came here just to learn more about them," she replied honestly, it is not something that she needs to hide. She then look at Tyr's eye with displeased as she remind him of something. "I'm aware of these place natures and due to that I'm well prepared,"she paused as she re-position her hand inside her cloth that holds the gun. "You're worries are not needed," Lilith said with displeased tone as she turn her back against Tyr. She then heard noise made by some dragons nearby. It is the voice emit by young dragons that actually is hiding from her. Feeling sad about this, she reluctantly turn herself to Tyr again before reluctantly ask. "S-say, how do you approaches the dragon without alarming them?" she say in rather, lower tone than her normal voice as she squint her eyes. Looks like her love for dragon comes first then vengence. She did not want to come here to be neglected by dragons, she want to spend time with them.

[Tyr]

'She wants to see the dragons? Mt. Rei isn't some tourist destination.'

Tyr sighed and twirled his bo staff until it disappeared from sight in a flurry of silver flame. For a moment, he wondered if he should put signs at the base of the mountain that dragons should not be disturbed in this sacred place. He hoped that this girl's visit wouldn't be the beginning of a pilgrimage of people who want to see a dragon as if it was some freak show. That would get ugly quickly, for dragons do not like the scent of strangers to linger in their territories. While he wanted to chastise her, Tyr was reluctant to, so instead, he opted to answer her question about approaching dragons.

"Dragons are not mere animals, so don't even try to sneak up on them. They'll know you're coming before you even realize they were there." He tried to explain the nature of dragons the best he could, but there were things about the mystical beasts that one couldn't simply articulate. Individual dragons were as unique as individual people, with personalities and level of sentience that were beyond most humans. Treating them as a critter that could be spied upon was a grave insult that might be seen as a threat. But he couldn't tell the girl to call out to them either. Wild dragons were dangerous, prone to anger and typically have a dislike for lower lifeforms. Advertising one's presence to a Wildling would only result in immediate death.

"The best way to get close to a dragon is to know their rider," the Weyrleader explained thoughtfully. "That would be the safest way for you to get up close and personal to one, because you cannot tell a wild dragon from a bonded one from afar. A wild one, or a Wildling, might not hesitate to kill or eat a person they think is a threat." He then scratched his head, feeling a bit odd explaining this to a girl who suddenly appeared on the mountain without help or companions. It was like talking to a specter of some sort. "You actually spooked a couple of juveniles on the ledges above us, but fortunately, it was because of that my dragon and I found them. Their mother misses them terribly, and your presence scared them a lot."

[Lilith ArchLight]

Despite how Lilith usually will not want to hear any explanation from human, this one rather as exceptional. Since it is something about dragon, and she are very interested to learn even from the very basic of dragon. Without her realizing, she actually listens with focus and carefully without ill feeling towards Tyr any more.

She felt happy and sad at the same time as she learns something regarding about dragons. She is excited learning the facts about them while felt bad as she were being ignorant about them. She did not mean to offend the dragons as she really love them very much. She look down as she knew that she was wrong in coming here without any die notice nor she even tell Zephel about this first hand. She got pretty excited when it comes to dragon until she act childish and rash about it. Perhaps this is the only thing that makes Lilith to be herself, unlike her currently cold and aggressive attitude.

"I'm very sorry, I guess I'm being too excited until I become rather ignorant about how the dragon would feel if I were to come out of the sudden," she let down a sigh realizing how childish she'd be. "I'm guessing that approaching them by the aid of the riders like you are the best way right?" Lilith looked at Tyr with curious and childish look of hers.

When Tyr explains about the young dragon that are hiding from her were actually a missing juvenile. Feeling concerned about Lilith couldn't help but to cooperate. "Really? I-I din't mean to scare them," she look up where the young dragons were hiding and then to Tyr with panic. "I-I will leave right away, I hope they will return to their mother safely," she bows at Tyr before she turns around as she tries to go away from the area.

She then realize something crucial as she walks away from Tyr. Her breathing worsen each steps she take in this area. This severely effects her focus in controlling her magic. She tries to overcome this as she force her body to conjure magic in order to use her teleportation spells. It end up to be a failure as she was unable to focus enough. To make it worst, she is now helplessly tries to catch her breath. She will faint soon if she fails to control her breathing.

[Tyr]

Alarmed, Tyr reached out and clasped a hand on the girl's shoulder, "Calm down, Miss. The last thing you want to do here is hyperventilate." She would faint if she kept it up, and the Weyrleader has had way too many people do so on their first time on the mountain. It took time and effort to train one's body to survive such high altitudes. Even the fittest half-demons have trouble staying active up here for long periods of time, let alone a young girl like this one. Tyr had half the mind to carry her down the cliffs where the air was thicker and more forgiving, but the Weyr was a lot closer.

'My lady, how are the hatchlings?" He asked his other half as he tried his best to keep the white-haired girl calm.

'They are well and made wiser by the loss of a patch of scale. They will be more careful when they take flight next time. Should we take that girl with us?'

The dragonrider briefly muttered an apology to the girl, "I cannot leave you hear alone, and I doubt you'll be able to get down the mountain by yourself. I will take you to the Weyr with me now, and when you are well enough to descend, I will personally see to it that you're back at the base of the mountain safely. For now, just calm down and take deep breaths. Orlith will come for us."

Just as he finished his sentence, a great shade seemed to descend upon them. It was the Silver's shadow, and beside her, were the two hatchlings, both barely larger than a pony. They were flying well enough, but they definitely looked nervous. Their thoughts were jumbled and chaotic, enough to make Tyr's head spin, so he did his best to tune them out.

"A hatchling of a human," Orlith thought aloud so the girl would hear her thoughts as well, "Was she abandoned?" The large dragonnes landed beside them on the cliff, but in order to fit herself on the ledge, she had to grasp a tall pine with her mighty claws and keep her wings aloft for balance. Her blue, gemstone-like, eyes veered down on the girl's milky ones with a wisdom unfathomable to human's.

"It doesn't seem like it," Tyr told his partner, "Regardless, she'll just faint here. We'll take her with us." He watched as Orlith extended a large clawed limb forward, a gesture that meant she will carry the girl on her claws.

"Not giving her the privilege to ride on your back?"

The Silver snorted a puff of smoke from her nostrils, "She has yet to earn it."

[Lilith ArchLight]

A miscalculation, this is what running in Lilith's mind. She never thought that her body can't take the pressure at high altitude. She tried her best to keep calm but her focus once again disturbed when Tyr grab her shoulder. She wanted to hit his hand away from her shoulder, but she had no strength left to even say a word. She can even barely listen to the words that Tyr tries to tell her.

"T-this is ridiculous! Not only that I can't even get up close towards the dragon, I even had to rely help from a human! T-this h-humiliation!" Lilith tries to hold her tears as he bitterly admit in her mind that it is her fault to be here at the first place. She never made a mistake such as this before and thus increase her frustration even more. If these keeps up, she won't even be able to calm down. Touching her chest as her breathing getting worsen, she curses herself for letting this to happened.

She then felt something big coming towards them. To add to that, she felt something speaking through her mind. She also felt heavy wind starting to engulf the area and this adds to her anxiousness to whats currently happening to her. Frustrated, angry, sad and confused, her instinct to protect herself finally kicks in as her body glows with white light before her body disappears from her current spot to several feet away from Tyr. Pulling out her guns and aim it to Tyr as magic flows vigorously around her body as it is out of control.

She is shivering, her pale eyes start to drop tears. With both of her hand that hold the gun are shaking as she aim towards Tyr. This feeling, is fear. "S-stay away, d-don't touch me!" she said in panic voices as she desperately tries to regain control herself. She did not want this, not in this place. It is happening again, the same thing that happens years ago. When her magic gets out of control and exploded, killing everyone in large radius back then in her past. Despite how she hates humans to the very core, she still felt sick as she did massacre a lot of lives due to that explosion. "G-get away from me, P-please get away!" she plea Tyr as her body starts to glow brighter and brighter as the magic flows in her body swirl in chaos.

She finally realize this feeling. Her hatred towards humans and aggression. She may hate them for the past that had been done but she actually fears one thing lot more then the anger. She is afraid to take a life. Crying, she finally beg Tyr something that she never wanted to ask from a human. "H-help me... I do not want to take anymore lives with me. Please..." she said with a helpless voices of hers. She do not anything else to stop the flows of her magic, and in order to not take anymore innocent lives, she is asking one last thing that she can't do it herself.

"Kill me..."

[Tyr]

'What in the world...?' Tyr's jaw dropped at what was happening around him. Just minutes before, he was merely looking for lost juvenile dragons. A moment ago, he was just trying to help a girl who seemed to have gotten herself lost. Now, he was witnessing what could be a gigantic explosion. He didn't understand. What did go wrong?

As the wind began to pick up around him, Tyr heard Orlith roar from over his shoulder, enraged and ready to attack. The juveniles behind her have already fled, squawking and careening towards the safest place they could find. The immense luminescence was so bright that the orb of light could probably be seen from miles around. The dragonrider tried to piece together the girl's story as he shielded his eyes from the light. What had happened to her? Why was she like this? More importantly, why here? He hated to compare this kind of magical power to an Absolute Dragon's, but if it felt severe enough to blow off a part of the mountain then he might as well do so.

Orlith bellowed like a pride of lions, "She must be stopped!" With teeth bared, the Silver opened her cavernous mouth and churned a white inferno in her lungs.

"No, wait!" Tyr summoned his bo staff again, a weapon that had been created by dragon magic. "Breath fire on her now and she might blow this whole cliff face off." While he knew that his dragon might survive such an explosion with little harm, he was painfully aware that he would not be so lucky. Orlith provided him with magical defenses, but he knew his humanity and his fragile mortality. Nonetheless, he had a mountain and a dragon's lair to defend, and under his oath, his life was for naught if Mt. Rei was harmed.

He twirled the staff in his hand and blindly dashed forward. His eyes stung and he could feel himself getting immersed in the magic the girl had conjured up around her. No, he couldn't rely on his own vision, and thus he summoned the connection he had with Orlith and saw was was transpiring through the Silver's gaze. The dragonness had every right to worry, but he could just reach the girl in time...

A shot exploded amidst the light. The girl must have instinctively pulled the trigger of her gun and it had been merciless on it path towards the dragonrider. Orlith roared once more, agitated and furious, but Tyr should count himself as lucky that the girl's aim had not been to the point. The bullet, or whatever it was, missed him, allowing him to take the final steps he needed to lunge and whip his staff on the girl's nape. The next few heartbeats were nerve-wrecking, however, he didn't know if knocking the girl unconscious would stop the threat of an explosion.

Fortunately, it did.

He caught the white-haired girl's lifeless body before it fell on the floor. His heart still pounded against his chest, vividly reminded of the time when Absolute Dragons clashed against one another, threatening to destroy everything for miles around. This girl's powers were nowhere near that caliber, and for that Tyr was thankful. However, a question now arose.

What must be done to this child?

He already knew Orlith's answer to it. She didn't even need to speak to him to know that she wanted the kid dead or punished. Putting the brooding grounds of dragons in danger was punishable by death, and dragons obey their archaic, and often mysterious, laws without question. The news of this accident must have already reached the minds and ears of the other dragons and riders in the Weyr and in the areas nearby. Their responses will not be good.

Tyr sighed and rested a hand over the sleeping girl's tear-stained face. It glowed white as the dragonrider channeled his partner's immense magical power into a simple sealing spell that would hopefully prevent another catastrophe like what had almost happened. It should last long enough for the Weyr's leadership to decide what the fate of this transgressor should be. For now, the Weyrleader allowed himself to feel pity, for he had an inkling that the girl's outburst truly was just some freak accident. He wanted to believe that.

He just hoped that his beliefs were in the right place.

'I do not want to execute a child.'

[End Thread]