Day 32
Chapter 5
The following morning Daedalon awoke with a cry, cold sweat matting her fur. Sitting upright and panting heavily she angled her gaze towards the open window to see it was still relatively dark out. Light enough to suggest the sun would be up soon yet still not truly daytime. As her breathing and heart rate slowed the Obelisk took a moment to reflect on what had spooked her so. Dreams. Nightmares? Images of the hatchlings robbed of their elemental magic. Memories of the strange hole burning the back of her eyes like an after-image from looking at the sun. She remembered that first experience with a wince. Exiting the cave the excavation team had dug to find her and her kind, blinking rapidly as the giant ball of fire in the sky seared her vision. Except, this was the opposite of bright. So opposite that it wasn't dark either. More than that. Or... less? It felt like nothing, an impossibly fathomless abyss.
Too unnerved to attempt more sleep Daedalon instead padded out onto the balcony to welcome the fresh morning breeze. Maybe some secrets could be heard today. That was apparently something Wind dragons could do, though she'd struggled to hear a whisper. Perhaps because she'd been born underground, carved from stone? Or... perhaps she was trying to hear something else. A clue, a reason to this wrongness. No wait! There! A voice! What was it saying? She placed her front paws on the guard rail, leaned forwards, strained her ears. Oh... no, it was just the townsfolk who got up early to set up their stalls.
Wasn't it a little too early for that?
Daedalon squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head as she did so. Opening them again her vision swam for a moment, but once it cleared the sky seemed brighter than before. Had she been imagining it? With the inverse after-image of the hole? Or maybe she was simply still sleepy from her sudden awakening. A fresh waft of air ruffled her mane, bringing with it a throbbing inside her head.
Yeah, maybe a bit more sleep would be good.
What time is it?
Daedalon groaned as she awoke for the second time, mind swimming with the remnants of some nonsensical dream. She was... there had been... was that...? Nope, gone. Fleeting as all dreams were.
Except the black hole.
Laying atop her pile of cloth the Obelisk stared at the wall opposite her as she struggled to join the waking world. It was bright out. Too bright to be the early mornings she usually rose at. She blinked. Why did the wall look so- Wait, she was upside down. Experimentally, groggily, still not grasping reality, she paddled her paws in the air, flexing her toes as she did so. Oh how ridiculous she must have looked in that moment. Then she felt it – a dull, aching pain in her right wing. She'd rolled over in her sleep and lain on it.
Great.
With unneeded difficulty Daedalon rolled onto her feet, tentatively flaring her wings. Yup, that hurt. Air hissed between her teeth as she sucked in a pained breath. No flying just yet then. Then again, what time was it? With an unsteady gait the blue dragon stumbled onto her veranda to gaze out over the town again. Vision swimming as green eyes adjusted, nothing made sense straight away. Buildings merged together, the inhabitants all blurred blotches of colour. She blinked once, twice. Somehow that made it worse. Closing her inner eyelids Daedalon rubbed at her eyes with her paws, feeling the grit dislodging. A satisfying sensation.
Things seemed more in focus on the second viewing. Buildings were distinguishably separate, dragons now had more of a shape. Details were still lost, however, making everything less blurs and more as blobs. The dragon sighed in frustration, her head full of rocks as she looked instead to the sky. Clear, blue, bright. The sun was almost overhead. All as it should be.
...wait, overhead?!
It was almost noon! She'd overslept badly today. It was surprising that no other servants had come to wake her, or that the bell had rung. Her fur bristled at the thought, biting her lip as she retrieved the enchanted object. If it had rung she'd slept right through it. What if Diaemus wanted her for something? At the same moment a gurgling sounded from her midsection. She wrapped an arm around it, putting the bell away with the other. Right... food. Okay then, she'd quickly fly down to the kitchen and then-
Ow! Ow ow ow, nope. Her wing complained painfully as she stretched it. Guess she was taking the long way. Stopping only long enough to splash some water on her face from a tub on the other side of the room Daedalon, still yet unsteady on her feet, began the descent down the winding spiral staircase, the stone hard and cold against her pads.
When she reached the door she paused. Through that portal was the entry hallway, leading up into the throne room. From there she'd cut across to the door on the other side, follow the hall around to another staircase leading up to the walkway overlooking the banquet hall-come-ballroom. Then she could go either left or right and descend one of yet more staircases leading into the hall proper. And from there she'd make her way to the left side of the room into the kitchens. It seemed so far just to eat. Yet that is how Squallwatch Keep had been designed. Large and sprawling.
That and her room wasn't originally intended to be a bedroom. That and the proper bedrooms with the proper inhabitants would have servants bring food to them. Despite being held in such high regard by Diaemus, Daedalon still had to make the trek herself. She didn't mind, the food was tasty enough to be worth it.
Something held her in place by the large archway however. Lashing her tail behind her, hearing the tuft swish over the stone, the Obelisk angled her head away from the passageway and instead downwards, to the right. Where the stairs continued, deep into the hill the Keep sat upon. The dungeons were down there, connected by a hallway and more stairs. Guarded by those two Guardians. Something about that thought made her press her lips together in discomfort. For a brief moment Daedalon considered heading down again. If Eudoxia was down there she wanted to know why.
Her stomach growled again. Not now.
With some effort the black-maned dragon pulled herself away from the temptation and out into the foyer. Only to pause again at how full of dragons it was. A few turned her way at her arrival, some with dirty looks. Daedalon balked at the expressions. Why did so many hate her so? An awkward smile graced her muzzle and she hurriedly found a gap to slip through, apologising all the while until she was away from the crowd. Mutterings and curses followed. Her ears drooped dejectedly, then pricked again as the Master's voice carried from somewhere further up. He must have been meeting with the townsfolk today. That would explain the large amount of people here.
It also meant she'd have to wait before she could speak with him. Well, today was going swimmingly wasn't it? As her stomach grumbled again the Obelisk continued her journey towards the food court. On her way Daedalon mused on the continued lack of other Obelisks. Here and there she'd heard rumours that others had passed by Squallwatch, and she thought she'd seen one or two along the way. None, however, had yet to stay. While her lips pursed musingly she couldn't help but feel... comfortable, knowing they were at least around.
Unsurprisingly, given the time of day she'd woken at, the banquet hall had been cleared of tables to make way for dancing. It was embarrassing slinking around the outside of the room, attempting to avoid contact – eye or physical as dancers came close to her path – to get to the kitchens. After a series of apologies and excuses Daedalon eventually emerged with a plate of fish with which she hurried to find an empty table left beneath the overhanging walkway. It was difficult with so many bodies sat to enjoy the ball. Had the journey not been so long she'd happily have taken it back to her room. Ultimately the Obelisk had little choice but to sit on a bench that had been pushed right to the back. It was uncomfortable to eat this way but it was better than not at all.
The pain in her wing had lessened by now, though the arm was still stiff. That ruled out flying from the windows. Not that it was an option already; with so many dragons packed in the room it would be impossible to leave without someone seeing her. So she simply backtracked after returning the dish to the kitchen.
Interestingly, despite the large line and the presumed lack of advisor since Eudoxia had been incarcerated, not once had her bell rung. Daedalon thought that Diaemus would have at least wanted her there for moral support since she rarely actually helped when he wanted her around. When at last she reached the main hall, then, she attempted to see how the Master was faring. Attempted, as the line was just as long and compressed as when she'd first passed through. Deeming this moot, the Windborn wriggled her way to the stairs instead. A few hisses, a couple of incomprehensible murmurs and a lot of tutting later she was on the other side. Not stopping to apologise this time Daedalon scaled the stone steps with flustered gait.
For a moment she considered hiding in her room, not entirely sure why she chose to come up here. Too late to go outside, she'd only draw more annoyed attention. So then, rather than her room she paced out of the doorway across from hers, through a small storage room and out onto the battlements. Maybe Reynauld was patrolling today.
He was not.
As the blue Obelisk emerged into the daylight and hey eyes adjusted to the brightness she came to realise that while there was another dragon up here, it was decidedly not her friend. Rather, it was the Banescale from before, the one who had been with the Gaoler manhandling (dragonhandling?) Eudoxia. For some reason a cold chill ran down her spine upon seeing him. Unsettled as she now was, she had to find out why he was here. Taking a breath to centre herself Daedalon approached the strange dragon.
“Um, hello?” He turned barely enough to regard her coldly from the corner of his red eye. She shuddered. “Um... I don't believe we've met! I uh, I'm Daedalon! And you?”
“Kamen.” He grunted, turning back to continue his patrol.
You're certainly a barrel of laughs. Daedalon thought sourly. Trotting up alongside Kamen she tried again. “So, how come you're up here today? Or well, at the Keep at all? I don't recognise you. Are you friends with Rey-”
The Banescale whirled around with a frightening speed, eyes narrowed dangerously below the dark, bonelike growths on his head. “Shut. Up.” Daedalon froze as if she'd entered stoneshape at his cutting tongue. When she neither continued nor moved, Kamen let out an exaggerated sigh and shook out his grey-brown wings. “Reynauld was assigned elsewhere. Don't ask where, I neither know nor care.” Daedalon nodded in understanding, throat thick. What was with this guy? “Now get lost and leave me alone, pet.” With that he turned away to resume Reynauld's old routine.
It wasn't until Kamen was several paces away that Daedalon allowed herself to exhale shakily. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
She needed to find Dismas. If she didn't know where Reynauld was then the Pearlcatcher would. Fuelled by fear for the new guardsman the Obelisk hopped up onto, and then off of, the battlement, the lingering chill numbing the ache in her wing as she circled around towards The Laughing Bat. Surely he'd be there. Or maybe Musard with the Nocturne hatchling – what did she name it? Sauvi-something?
Landing clumsily in the street Daedalon pressed into the doors of the tavern a little harder than intended thanks to the panic, almost tumbling inside the establishment. Had she not been so prioritised in the moment she might have noticed that the building wasn't as packed as usual. Prioritised she was, however, and so didn't as she beelined towards a familiar red shape and his orange companion.
“Dismas!” she gasped, skidding to a halt next to the rogue. “Dismas you need to help me Reynauld and I saw Eudoxia – Diaemus' advisor – get arrested by dragons I've never seen before and they really creep me out and Rey went to speak to Diaemus and he's not come back yet and who is this?” The words spilled uncontrollably from her jaws, only stemming when she realised the orange companion was not Musard but a Snapper she'd never seen before. They were dressed in a dark brown robe and hood, a bundle of sweet-smelling herbs hanging in a pouch at their hip. A lizard of some kind lay lazily on their back and a dryad peered over a broad shoulder.
“Woah, woah, woah! Slow down!” Dismas held his hands up in a “steady” motion, then slapped a reaching paw from a nearby patron trying to steal his drink. Grabbing the tankard and pulling it close to himself so it didn't happen again the red dragon faced his friend once more. “What about Rey?”
Daedalon shakily pulled herself onto the bench next to the stool her friend was perched on, unknowingly blocking the glare from the beer-thief.. “He's missing.” she explained a bit more coherently now that she'd stopped. “He and I saw two weird dragons dragging Diaemus' advisor into the Keep. Diaemus told them to lock her up. Rey went to find out what happened and I haven't seen him since.”
Dismas lifted a concerned brow. “Not even in his favourite spot outside your room?”
A series of snickering from eavesdroppers made the furry dragon's cheeks flush and she dipped her head. Why did he have word it that way? Okay he wasn't entirely wrong but it sounded very wrong. “N-no. One of the weird dragons was there instead, a Banescale I think they're called, called Kamen.”
“'Kamen' you say?” Both glanced over at the Snapper Daedalon had misidentified, who was carefully cradling a tankard of their own between thick paws.
“That's right.” Daedalon confirmed.
At the same time Dismas asked, “You know them?”
The flaxen dragon took a slow sip of their beverage before replying. “He and his friend, a Gaoler named Rochelle, used to be part of my clan.”
“Huh.” Went the Pearlcatcher.
At the same time the Obelisk commented, “You knew them both?”
The heavy head swung back and forth. “I knew not them myself, only that they had always been overambitious. He convinced her to join him in some foolish endeavour. Kamen was red once, like Dismas. Rochelle a rich brown. Both faded once they made that pact.”
“Pact?” This time the pair exclaimed together. The Snapper nodded solemnly.
“Aye. The pair would frequently leave the clan grounds openly discussing it. I wager they were hoping to spread interest. What else transpired, I know not. Only that they were said to be meeting with a stranger outside the border. Then one day their scales and fur began to dull and their eyes change.” They fixed Daedalon with their own, burning Fire eyes at that. “Trust not their reddened eyes, for they are not those known of the Plague Flight.”
Silence hung between the three then. The pilco shifted on its master's back. The dryad fiddled with a branch uncertainly. The Snapper took another sip of their drink.
“Shade.” Daedalon jolted at the suddenness and forcefulness with which Dismas spoke the word. It was as much a curse as it was confirmation, and black spittle dripped from his lower lip. Muttering under his breath the Pearlcatcher yanked a bag from under his stool. “Cover me a moment, will ya?” He gestured at the beer-thief from before.
Daedalon dithered for a second before realising he meant the other dragon might try to steal the pearl as well. Why anyone would be so heartless to do so was beyond her, but it's what Dismas wanted so she stood and flared her wings around him. Her right wing-arm twinged. She ignored it.
“Thith ith. Nalani. By th'way.” The cherry-scaled dragon said between smatterings of memory-lacquer. “Thee. Came to. Help. Figure out. What killed me kidth.”
“Xe.” The Snapper named Nalani corrected calmly. “Gender does not suit me, so I shall be known by none.” This made the Obelisk blink several times in confusion. That was possible? Earthshaker had taught her every dragon was either male or female. How was it possible for someone to not have one at all? Nalani fixed her with a steady gaze, preventing the next question from being asked. Not here, it said.
At a loss for words Daedalon simply nodded as she resumed her role as living curtain. In the moment she was grateful for the hubbub around them; listening to Dismas licking his pearl would have been awkward. It was slightly annoying that he chose now to do it – or rather that it was happening now. He couldn't control it completely – as she was desperate to know how Musard was doing. Flicking her gaze around the Obelisk's eyes settled on the two familiars. “So um, who are your friends?”
Nalani hummed a moment, rolling her... their? Xir? shoulders to rouse the scaly lump on xir back. “The pilco has no name as yet. He enjoys the taste of my herbs and all effort to dissuade him failed. Thus I decided he be my familiar.” Tilting her... xir head xe gestured at the dryad, who sat politely upright. “And this is Juniper. They already have a master, as I understand. And a message for someone living here.”
“I wath meanin' to athk you 'bout that.” Dismas commented as he finished his work. Applying the final lick he balanced the pearl in his hands to dry as he regarded Nalani and the dryad. “Who was it yer lookin' for? I might have an idea where they are.”
Brightening, the shimmering Snapper, whose smooth hide glinted in the lantern light, looked to Juniper in invitation. With a nod of appreciation, they stood and gave a small bow. “I am to seek a dragon known as...” they furrowed their brow as they pronounced the name, “Day-da-lon?”
“Oh! Ah, that's me!” the Obelisk in question remarked in surprise, settling back down on her bench as Dismas tucked his pearl away in the sack. “How can I help?”
“Well ain't that handy.” the Pearlcatcher chuckled as he frowned at the diminished liquid in his tankard.
“Handy indeed!” Juniper responded pleasantly. “This makes things easier then. Day-da-lon, I was asked by my master, Eudoxia, to extend a warning to you and yours.” Daedalon's eyes widened. Eudoxia's familiar? Juniper cleared their throat as they recited thus: ““You must flee this place. Diaemus cannot be trusted. He is dabbling in forces not meant for dragonkind and may intend to use you in his experiments. Leave, take your friends and go.
“Diaemus is a traitor seeking to undo us all”.”
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