An Unlucky Strike
#6 of Sunbaked
Early the next morning Derhith was the first to wake to a stormy and dreary day. Outside the clouds had rolled in and made overcast nearly like that of dusk. Lightning was going illuminating the surroundings with brilliant flashes and pounding the ears with an assault of roaring thunder.
Derhith glanced about then made an assumption, "doesn't look as though we are going anywhere today."
Gave was the next to wake to the horrendous sound and trotted on all four over to Derhith to stare in unison with her in to the turbulent sky.
"Nice weather we are having?" Gave groaned out with all the sarcasm that he could must this early in the morning.
"You really aren't a early dragon, are you?" Derhith looked back at Gave with a tilted head waiting for his lack lusted reflexes to respond.
"Nope. *sigh* Still more of an early dragon than those two." Gave rambled out as he stared back at Crystal and Sirblood who was still in his dragon form.
And sure enough Sirblood was the next one up somewhat. He perked his head up and looked at Gave then to Derhith with a slight smirk as he glanced at Derhith then to the outside before he noted, "Pfff stormy weather that figures." With that he laid his head down and returned to a light slumber.
Derhith padded over to Sirblood and laid down on his neck base before curling into a ball and falling asleep against his chest.
Gave sighed and went to curl up against Crystal in a spooning position but was disappointed as she woke and made to get up.
"Whats wrong?" Gave asked just disappointed that he would have to be awake a little while longer on such a bleak day.
"I am just a little cold." Crystal blurted out not thinking that her mate would take it on himself to do something about and just curl closer to her instead.
"Okay one fire coming right up." Gave stated informatively as he rose reluctantly to Menander outside to fetch some wood.
Crystal fearing for him in this kind of weather that she had just noticed scrambled, to partner with him on the brief journey.
Gave looked back over his shoulder as his mate was quick to keep up with him. "Couldn't let you go out in THIS alone!" she jesterd at the sky with a wide swing of her left arm as disaster struck literally.
Gave watched in jaw dropping horror as his mate was hit in the arm by an arc of lightning and was sent sprawling back some 40 feet to the side of the mountain. Gave rushed over to the side of his mated getting hit by stray jumps of static electricity. His safety was the last thing on his mind.
"Are you okay?" Gave was barely able to speak as he sat there feeling helpless and depressed.
Crystal shook her head as if to clear it of stray fog before blinking profusely and muttering weakly, "don't ever let me do that again!"
Gave nodded picked her up with jumps still going on in between him and Crystal. Gave had her in his arms as she passed out turning into shear dead weight. But Gave fought on making his way to the cave to a very nervous and imprudent Sirblood.
"Quick set her down!" Sirblood nearly roared at a very baffled Gave. But Gave complied all the same.
"Will she be alright?" Gave recovered to the point of asking a question to a crouching Sirblood.
Sirblood focused for a moment before coming to but one conclusion, "She doesn't look good but there is one way to save her."
Gave desperate immediately responded, "I'll do anything!"
"Anything is just what we need at this moment." Sirblood kept his cool even at the risk of the ritual he was about to preform.
"Wait you mean THAT ritual?" Gave said suddenly taken back at what he was about to do to save his mate.
"Yes, the essence mating ritual." Sirblood tried to sound hopeful but at the core he was grim. Few where brave enough to attempt the ritual and fewer than that survived it. But at this point it was the only hope for Crystal. Essence mating ritual was a magic all of its own, when two dragons where mated by essence they where for all intents and purposes linked in an unbreakable bound that if one dragon lived so did the other, the only way for one to die is to kill the mate link, that would mean one of the dragons was stabbed though the heart.
Sirblood now full of purpose now made quick to start his work. He set about drawing the circle and shout supplies that Derhith would have to gather. Gave stood aside and carved the markings of union into his scales.
Sirblood having finish with his engravings on the cave floor moved onto Crystal carving the submissive marks of union into her scales.
Then just as the two dragon had finished with their mark making Derhith had returned with the 12 elements of magic. Wood the power of nature placed at the top right. Fire the power of heat placed opposite of wood. Ice the power of cold place bellow wood. Quartz the power of clarity placed top left. Sapphire the gem of wisdom placed on the left. Opal the mineral of skill placed at the top. Emerald the gem of health placed at the bottom right. Diamond the gem of strenght placed at the bottom left. Last but not least Sentiment stone placed at the bottom as a symbol of union having contained all of the Afro mentioned.
During a verbal mantra Sirblood was quick to work as Crystal had but precious borrowed time.
Gave assumed the position of protection over Crystal and during a brilliant flashing mesh of emerald and azure the ritual was under way.
The entire ritual took not but 2 hours and was successful. Sirblood having tired from using the huge amount of magic required collapsed on the spot upon completion. Derhith looked on astonished that she had been the first lycane to witness a successful essence mating and let alone help.
Gave was collapsed next to Crystal and spent the night with odd yet familiar dreams of flying and romance but felt closer to something than he ever had before.
Gave and Crystal awoke the next morning at the same time and uttered at the same time, "Morning love, Oh look at your belly scales." And sure enough the belly scales of the two dragons had changed Gave's once all emerald form now had a vast array of azure belly scales and Crystal's once all azure form now had Emerald belly scales.
Derhith roused and licked at Sirblood's neck till he also roused. It was at then Sirblood noticed some side effects of the spell.
Both dragons now where the same height and if one had to guess, it would not be hard, that they now also shared the same weight.
For some reason Gave and Crystal no longer had to speak to know what the other was going to say and no longer had the ability to tell which thoughts where their own and which where that of their mate's.
Gave looked to the elder and instantly Crystal KNEW what had happened. She looked deeply at Gave and caused him to suddenly turn and look deep into her eyes. "You risked your life for me?"
Gave was a bit embarrassed but replied without really needing to in a kind of justified dragonic way, "Your my mate I would do anything for you." Not a programmed response but a heart felt statement.
"Because if I had lost you living would not have been living anymore."
Then if nothing weirder could happen something did.
An electrical bolt the size of a tree sprang out from the back of Gave's right wing. And then just hovered there not but a foot off the ground retaining shape and size as it sat there perfectly suspended. Crystal reached out to touch it but Gave her a firm tap on the paw. "Not again you don't!"
Then ignoring his own advice Gave reached out and tapped the floating rod with a fore talon. It hummed a bit but seemed stable. Deciding what to do with it Gave clutched it in his left paw and plucked it from its spot.
Crystal looked surprised and muttered a bit then scooted back. "Be careful with that thing!"
Gave look out the cave entrance spotted a tree and let loose the bolt with a brisk fling. It flew like a bat out of hell hit the tree and disappeared.
"Humm they aren't great weapons then," Gave murmured to no one then ate his own words.
The was a large boom and the tree turned into toothpicks in a flash.
"Okay scratch that they make good weapons!" Gave roared excited like a child in a candy store.
"I call them lightning spears." Sirblood spoke so sudden that Gave and Crystal nearly jumped out of their scales.
"You already knew what it was?" Crystal asked shock having thought that her and her mate had discovered something new.
"Yes, I just liked seeing the look on your face when you figured out what it was!" Sirblood shoot back roaring with laughter.
"I bet the tree didn't think it was funny!" Derhith said sarcastically making Sirblood go into another fit of laughter.
"Okay get some sleep everyone, we had a very full day." Sirblood blurted out after calming himself down again.
"Oh something is going to be full alright!" Derhith said with a sugestive wink at Sirblood who coughed and turn a darker red.