Hunting feathers, picking mushrooms (Maddyn please)

[Skay Ravendi]

TS: The Beginning of The Month of Kalendryas in the Season of Winter,
of Era II of the Celestine Mandate (Current Pattern)
Era XI Post Fractum in the Age of the Darkening, the Mageocracy of Julos the Mad
Paradigm: Undead Attack Zerdargia

OOC: Continued from here.

And so the draconess finally left the shop of magics and annoying gnomes and the whole Frigid River city. It was how to say it, cold. And that had to be expected since it was winter. Soon enough the draconess would go to Arakmatan Province to spend the rest of the winter, but for now till it was just the beginning of the hideous season, it wasn't unbearable cold or so snowy that she couldn't travel the roads or even the woods. Still she rather enjoyed the new surroundings, it was a different sight from Archadoon, Demios, Tirisfal and so many others. For the main thing, there was no sea around. And that was good. All it had was woods. And that was even better.

It was to the woods that the draconess was riding to. Some specific woods that the gnome told her to go, where she could find a pegasus. Simple as that. A pegasus. Like a thing or a creature which lived all over, was no threat and willing to share feathers. Sure. Well at least she was out of the city and the magic shop, maybe an insane pegasus would be better than an annoying gnome. As soon as the city was behind the back of the obsidian scaled draconess, she spurred Akiru to ride faster, turned him to the direction of the needed woods and... rode to the woods. She didn't know what they would look like so far, but she hoped that she and her stallion could manage quite alright there. From all she knew, they were suppose to be woods of pines, which would allow her to travel with ease even without roads. But if not then it would mean trouble.

It should have taken a few candlemarks, till Skay reached the woods and rode in a bit deeper into them. There she would... search for a pegasus. And why in the world of Telath did this sound even more ridiculous than in the shop? Find a pegasus. Like... walk around for a candlemark, then two, then two brightenings, then two months and then maybe you will be lucky enough to see this creature. "Akiru, would you be so kind to lead the way?" The draconess asked her stallion with a half joking voice, then casting a spell called Ally with Animal and telling her black stallion to ride straight, but more or less wherever he wanted. She trusted Akiru enough now, since after all the draconess crossed almost all empire from South to North and from East to North on his back.

A bit later, when she reached a better place of the woods, Skay dove into Clara again. It was there that the whole view lit up in transparent blazing flames - the so called Ara. She dragged enough of it to merge with her own Vis. When the two were forced together, she formed mana for the Detect spell, casting it all around and trying to sense the creatures. Maybe a pegasus would be just walking or flying around. Probably not, but there was nothing else she could think of to find one for the gnome that he could make her hose a unique one. And there of course would be a completely different story on mushrooms too. Ah, she could only sigh, shake her head and do what she had to do. Search and learn. The good thing was that she left Frigid River at noon and depending on how long it took to reach the woods, still had a bit of time till the darkening.

[Maddyn]

It could've been all too easy to halt and consider the Askin Woods just outside Frigid River as an appropriate target to sit and wait for the Pegasi that Skay'd been directed to try and hunt down. But then, that was several brightenings closer to Frigid River itself rather than where Skay found herself to currently be. The Forest of Light, one of the greater woods of the Allerian Empire and believed to be bordering upon the realms of Fae'rel - a myth of coarse given that it was rather named Kel'rondar and resided as a Plane of it's own rather than tangiable upon Telath with very few means of getting to the Anti-Plane of Nature safely.

In the depths of winter, the Forest of Light lived up to it's name but only because of the severe glare that stung the eyes as the suns light reflected from the snow. Ancient tree's older than almost anyone in the Province with the possible exception of Dwarves and Elves lay there in this section a little further south from Mystique - too much North and Skay would have found herself within the dominion of the woodcutters there who contiunually deforested the Forest of Light while the city Druid's replaced the sapplings. Just a little further North from that, and the pathway unto Ethgan'tor would've been within Skay's reach even if finding the correct one would've taken a small miracle.

Whether by luck of design, Skay was just far enough south to attain passage into the woods where the Pegasi and Aether Pegasi were rumoured to live for a good percentage of the Era where they weren't in the Pegaso Woods. Where the Imperium tended to aquire their mounts for the Elite Pegasi Cavalry that'd been proven in blood to mete out almost the same reputation in strength as the Narim Griffin Riders and the Alyssan Elites. Here however, poachers were rare and required somewhat more courage, fortitude and sheer luck to make it out of the woods alive if they saught to harm a creature unnecessarily or bring damage to the woods themselves.

Casting Detect took a few moments for Skay, mostly the general tedium found from entering Clara first rather than any actual casting difficulties. The woods themselves were arcanic of nature though to a certain degree, appealing to Skay's own nature as a Druidess and aiding her with a small amount of extra strength that could've been procured from the other woods in the Empire. The Syl'rosyan Forests, the Tirisfal and Naturan Glades, the Pegasi Woods and the more perturbing nature of the Dolwoods where The Circle lay near Medonia and North up near where Zerdagia lay.

The results of the spell though granted Skay with a mild pain in the temples as she was forced to determine just what she was after. It was a case of not being able to see the woods for the trees; Skay was quite simply surrounded from every angle with life be it a vole in the snow, a bear in the distance in hibernation, chipmunks and squirrils through to a lone wolf howling somewhere further away than Skay's ears could even hear. The tree's themselves responded too, what very well might have been dormant Treants waiting out the winter and slumbering Dryads waiting until the spring. But that was far from being all, a... flock? of Pegasi, some two adults and a foal lay deeper in the woods by several miles through.

[Skay Ravendi]

The wonders that the spell did, surprised the draconess enough that she even halted Akiru. The stallion stopped unwillingly, nodding his huge head twice in disapproval and trying to take another step so that there would be no standing around in one place. Sometimes the druidess regretted taking one like Akiru for a riding horse, for most of the times he was giving more trouble than it was worth. Like for example ding what it pleased instead of what she told him to if the draconess didn't act too strict. Or completely disobeying her orders and fleeing away from a battle which was about to come with a rider on its back. Not to mention that no one else could ride it or even pet it. Well with the exception of druids who used their spells and gained a disapproval of the horse as soon as the spells would wear out.

The draconess's arcanic mind gazed all around the forest, seeing all the little and big creatures that lived here. For the first time the spell had worked this powerfully, so Skay held onto it as much as she could, searching for the winged horses with a smile from the power of the spell and a frown from the mild pain that it decided to give her. This forest was more than just unique, it was wonderful, magical and full of life. And Pegasi. She actually could feel them with the spell. Several miles away... Fortunately she was not on foot, but on a stallion who refused to stand still or carry any other riders and instead lived for speed and the freedom that it gave to him. Just like flight might some brightening be Skay's freedom.

"Wanna race?" The draconess asked and spur Akiru to run ever faster. And slower if the woods would be too hard to ride through with the bushes or gathering of trees. Even if Skay trusted Akiru, she did not trust her riding abilities that much yet. Sure she was on the horse every cycle more or less, traveling from one side of the Empire to the other, but she still didn't trust her one era experience. If the path was more or less clear then she would reach the pegases soon enough, but if it would be a labyrinth of trees then she might be having a long brightening. Especially if the flock would decide to not stand still either. And by her luck, it would not stand still for more than a few minutes and move to an opposite direction.

Still overjoyed by the strength of the spell that she was able to summon and by actually being able to locate pegases, the druidess almost forgot to check on the way back, which she would definitely need to get back after this feather hunt. The sun, or rather suns, were the best possible direction and so while she still was able to see them through the branches, Skay made sure which candlemark it was approximately and how the suns were positioned. Then she could always use that for the directions to the desert. As for losing the road, she did not fear that so much. For Skay would not die in the middle of the forest or plains from starvation or thirst with the spells that she had at her disposal. Even predators weren't such a trouble with the use of defensive spells. Now however, was not the time for sleeping, eating or drinking, it was the time for hunting pegasi. And then thinking of a striking conversation as to how she should get the feather.

After about five to ten minutes of riding, Skay cast Detect again so that she would know if the pegasi had moved and if so to where she should direct Akiru. If everything would go smoothly, she would do that again after the same time period. She wanted to hold onto the spell the whole time, but here for some reason which she did not know, the spell was giving her a headache so she needed to rest from it at the same time. The trees however interested her almost as much as the pegasi. For if they were treants, she wanted to see them more than pegases. It was after all the cause of her becoming a druidess by half an accident. The only problem was that she needed pegasi and just wanted treants, so there was no stopping.

[Maddyn]

Moving through the woods at the speed Skay was managing in winter probably wasn't the most sensible of ideas given that the snow hid bracken and stones. But Skay's luck was holding out thus far in that Akiru was managing to avoid the worst of things even if it meant that retaining in Clarity for Skay was somewhat difficult even if she could retain the state of mind. It was kind of like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time, some people could do it and others couldn't... it just took a little coordination and a little thought before everything clicked into place.

Casting Detect periodically too was leaving little to no draining upon Skay's Vis in spite of the power she cast the spells with. Aided by the woods themselves, everything seemed absolutely perfect - even the three Pegasi showed no signs of taking flight just yet as she drew ever closer. At least, not until Skay was probably about a hundred metres from the glade where the trio grazed away without a hint of fear or self conciousness that a poacher or trapper might decide to try his or her hand at gaining a Pegasi mount.

It was just a shame that Skay's luck wasn't entirely holding out as Akiru began to rear as a sound of the horseshoe striking something hard sounded through the air. Not to mention Akiru's own protest as the horse through the horseshoe on it's right side, the nail itself clinging so that the shoe remained half on and caused Akiru to dance about as standing on all four legs proved difficult. Skay wasn't thrown from Akiru, but then neither was remaining on the horses back the most sensible of idea's until something could be done about the shoe.
Started by Akiru's sounds, the three Pegasi bolted, taking flight almost immediately like a flock of frightened birds being chased by a child with a stick and a bag of lollies... whether or not they'd left any feathers behind though was another matter entirely. Skay had more immediate problems after all.

[Skay Ravendi]

It was not expected that Akiru would trip on something. It was simply not taken into consideration, while it should have been. It wasn't clear who got scared more for the moment, the stallion or the draconess. Both had not expected anything like that. And whatever it was that was capable of damaging a horseshoe this much, was a damn evil stick, rock or any other troublemaker. Akiru's reins were dragged closer, so that he would stop any kind of movements and stand still.

A sigh filled the forest air as the draconess saw the pegasi fly away. A little bit more time and she would have halted Akiru's fast movement, maybe cast a spell or two, sneak or something and had the feathers in her hands. But now she didn't. They were up in the sky, and she was down on the ground with a horse who now had a damaged horseshoe. Two serpentine eyes followed the flying horses till they disappeared, then a scaly hand patted a large black neck and the draconess dismounted. No pegasi, just a horseshoe which had to be removed. Another great brightening. And while Skay hadn't expected to get the feathers, she didn't expect to get a half fallen off horseshoe either.

"Stand still, won't you?" The druidess took the front leg of her stallion into her hands, raising so that she could check the horseshoe. Hopefully this wasn't causing any pain for the horse, 'cause otherwise it would mean more trouble than she could handle. She took a dagger from her belt, the only tool which looked at least half decent for removing horseshoes. She had an ivory staff carefully placed on her back. It was there almost all the time, with an exception to sleeping and a few other rare cases. While some times the being in the staff annoyed her more than anything else could manage, the draconess still kept it with her. But no matter how... weird the staff was, it was no good for removing horseshoes. Nor was the shield which was attached to the left side of the saddle. And the dagger was the only thing which could be used with no skills of removing horseshoes.

If Skay succeeded in removing the horseshoe, she would put it back in her saddlebag and taking Akiru by the reins walk to the place where pegasi were moments ago. She would look around for feathers, maybe with any luck the horse 'screams' were loud enough to startle the pegasi as much as to... lose a few feathers. It would not be easy to find them on the white snow, so a better search would be made. By the time Skay would be done, she would also know how Akiru was feeling and if he would be capable of riding again without getting an another horseshoe on. If there would be no wounds then he should be, snow was soft enough to have almost no need for horseshoes anyway. But if there was a wound then it would be a long walk. A few minutes later the draconess would cast another Detect spell if no feathers would be acquired.

At least she had a glimpse of the pegasi. Beautiful they were. Beautiful beyond words and yet so distant and wild. Some far far away brightening, she would have such animals by her side. But today was just with snowflakes on her snout, a bird in a staff who had not spoken for a whole cycle and a few annoyed snorts to the whole situation. Why Akiru couldn't have tripped five minutes later? Then she would have had the feathers in her claws, a better view of the creatures who actually existed in this forest and a generally happier mood.

[Maddyn]

Removing the horseshoe wasn't the easiest of tasks, but it was well within Skay's own range of knowledge even if she perhaps should've been a little more prepared for such an eventuality. It fell under part of simple horse care like rubbing down their backs after a long ride, preparing oats or placing a blanket beneath a saddle to prevent chafing. At least though Skay had managed to check the straps over for the saddle, otherwise when Akiru had halted it could've been all too possible for Skay to have fallen to one of the sides and had her feet caught within the stirrups.Her foot talons ripping along Akiru's ribs from the inevitable jolting motion.

No, Skay had been lucky just having Akiru throw a shoe for her own carelessness in not taking into consideration that there might've been debris and rocks beneath the snow. It could've been worse though, there was generally something to go wrong. There could've been a wolf trap or a bear pit in the area, or going from bad to worse and stumble down a crevice or into a Hellbear's lair. Or a Necrotaurs, the massive hounds known to be within the Forest of Light even if they were rarely seen... just the effects of their passing upon the wildlife. Well, what little remained afterwards.

By the time Skay had everything sorted, her sight caught the Pegasi in the distance flying away though in the clearing there was a little bit more luck for the Druidess as if events were conspiring against her to make this possible but just a little dangerous if things weren't thought through carefully. They were difficult to find, and took much searching with one of the white long feathers even stuck up a tree just above Skay's own reach to hang there mockingly. Two just lying on the ground and a rather downy looking feather just floating on the breeze backwards and forwards without a care in Telath.

Detect though within the clearing gave the answers Skay most likely could've done without. The minds of predators drawing closer, moving as a pack almost like wolves and yet if these were wolves they'd definetely been drinking something a little odd. Like say an alchemists potion designed to make someone two or three times larger, compensating for the change with a rather impressive IQ drop. No, these weren't intelligent animals in the way a wolf was.. these were intelligent predators who simply killed because food was there. Actually eating the kill afterwards or letting it rot didn't weigh into their thinking. Necrotaurs. A dozen, perhaps more.

[Skay Ravendi]

Convenient. Four feathers were spotted. Exactly four feathers were needed. Bloody convenient. Quickly Skay tied Akiru to the tree on which one of the feathers was stuck. Then it would be a quick run around the place where feathers were to pick them. The two which would be lying on the snow floor would be gathered first, then an attempt to catch the one which was flying around the place. Hopefully nothing would happen to the feathers and the three would be snatched into the scaly hand.

It was the fourth feather that might prove to be a bit difficult to get. More than that, there was no time for that. The draconess had other worries on her mind. What the detect spell showed was more than just strange and truth be told - scary. She didn't know who was approaching. At least not by a name. She had not studied about animals or beasts, at best she saw them or heard stories about them. In this case the draconess heard a story or two about necrotaurs. Patterns ago. So now all she knew was that huge wolves, werewolves maybe, were approaching. Or in short - trouble. Again. For no good reason.

As soon as she knew what detect showed, Skay ran back to Akiru, who was tied to the tree, with the feather hanging on the top. What to do? Ride away? She had no idea which would be faster, her horse without one horseshoe or those wolves that were approaching. And if the favour would be not on her side, then the draconess knew her physical strength pretty well. It was worth the same one that a simple girl had. And she didn't trust arcana too well in dangerous and fast situations either. Hiding was out of the questions as well for there was no place safe to hide. However the hope was that there would be enough time for clara and a Circle of Magic. Quickly after running back to Akiru, Skay dove into meditation, calming her senses completely and reaching for Clara which would be obtained hopefully faster than the necrotaurs would reach her.

If she had enough time, then the circle would be cast around her, Akiru and the tree. If not and the beasts would come into visual while Clara would still be a far away dream, then it would be either massacre or a quick enough untying of the reins, jumping onto Akiru and riding away as fast as possible. If however Clara was behaving and the Circle cast, Skay would either climb up the tree, hoping that her childhood's tree-climbing skill was still working, to get the feather. Or look for other means to get the feather down if the tree was impossible for climbing. As for the beasts... for now all that Skay could do would be cast a furious look at them and hope that they would shoo away. At least they could not get in the protected place. If they were not magical. And as far as she could recall from the stories they weren't.

[Maddyn]

Four feathers needed, three obtained without dilema but unfortunately it seemed things weren't entirely within Skay's own fortune. Perhaps born under a bad star or the patterns in the heavens giving the kind of warning that pretty much said - spend this brightening in bed and hide. Releasing itself from it's snaring in the tree, as Skay ran to Akiru the feather began to shift away and flutter on the breeze. Caught upon a thermal, the feather rose and danced ever upwards as the Draconess reached her horse and created a Circle of Magic about herself. The ground itself being carved into to fashion the real edge before the Activation of Mana and Purpose into the rim provided the means for defense.

And... as the feather danced away to the very edge of sight as naught but a pinpoint in the distance the creatures revealed themselves.

They looked like massive hounds and wolves crossbred, their pelts black and silver tipped though from there the similarities shifted. For one thing Wolves weren't generally falling somewhere between six and eight feet in length, a good eight of them pawing their way into the clearing to eye Skay briefly. But their attention seemed much more inclined to watch Akiru, horseflesh in this area was a problem in obtaining given the penchant for horses here to have wings and escape well before a pack could close in on the animals. Skay's horse however was fair game... or so believed.

A low growl emittinating from the pack as they fanned out, circling about the edge of the Circle of Magic for a little while before one of them went to pounce... and impacted against a solid area in the air; hitting the ground as a slight aftershadow of emerald light vanished. The Circle of Magic more than enough to provide means fo defense. Shaking it's massive head from side to side in confusion, carefully it rose again as the rest of the pack continued to watch and consider this particular dilema in their cubori.

[Skay Ravendi]

Three feathers. Four needed. Three feathers would be as much as none if she won't get the fourth one. A deep sigh followed the feather which disappeared in the sky before Skay got her attention back to the ground, to the Circle and to the howls. Indeed every leaf and every cloud spoke nothing apart from go home, get some sleep, stay away from this. But then Skay rarely ever listened. She did that a few patterns ago, did nothing but hide and run from anything that sounded like trouble and she got tired of that. So now she was not running, now she had her goals, strange and hard to reach goals, but she at least had them and was following them.

The draconess watched the hounds with fear in her eyes. She did not trust her arcanic abilities at all. The Entwine she had cast to stop zombies in Autumn had not stopped them longer than for two seconds, heal was always useless when she needed it most but was already too far from clara because of the pain, Panic Animal spell had turned against her by a Giant Spider sending screams of fear which brought a few more Giant Spiders. It seemed that whatever she did, the spells were either useless or made things worse. So now she had no idea if such huge wolves, in whatever perverted way they were, were capable of just breaking her only defence by either magic or their simple animalistic strength.

Eight. Eight beasts against a draconess who had no combat experience and just a few spells to cast as her mind was getting tired as well. She wasn't sure if the Circle of Magic had tired her mind at least a little bit though. And if it didn't then she was more than ready to live in this Circle for a day or two till she would be ready to burn down each of the beasts. She could feed both Akiru and her after resting her arcanic abilities. The only part which did not look to good was the boring waiting. Eight hounds. Too much than she could handle or run away from without arcana. Too much by eight hounds.

As one of the hounds pounced at her, all senses seemed to die in the draconess, even her horse watched the whole thing with his ears down as much as possible, eyes running from one predator to the other. But as her magic actually worked Skay sighed deeply and happily, falling to the ground and sitting down there comfortably, holding the two metre ivory staff in her hands by the lower end of it. "Any suggestions, your Grace?" She asked Aeran, her annoying bird Master. Or rather her annoying bird companion who thought of himself as Skay's master when there was still nothing he could do apart from annoy her to death by talking in her head. Or being as silent as a staff when she needed him to talk.

"And see, this is exactly why we need you to have wings and fly us out of here, Akiru." Turning to her stallion and petting him on the neck Skay spoke, calming him a bit more. For now she would wait a little bit and see what the hounds might do. Now that they could not get through her defences, they were no longer such a threat to her, if at all. Now they were just another annoyance. One which would be dealt with if Skay had enough mana for a Befriend Animal spell, reshaped to fit on all animals at once, instead of casting it on each separately, and hopefully being able to do this so that they would hold Akiru as a friend and not meat as well. If not... then she had all the time in the world to recover her Vis before attempting such a spell.

[Maddyn]

The draining on Skay's Vis however was consistant, each and every time that the Necrotaurs lunged at Skay before being propelled backwards by the Circle of Magic the Circle drained that much more of the Draconess' Vis. But, there was only so many times the creatures could continue ramming against Skay's wards, be propelled away and then lunge again before it became just a little obvious that they weren't going anywhere. Only when the Necrotaurs had checked the entire perimetre of Skay's Circle of Magic did they bark and growl as if trying to come to a conclusion about just how badly they wanted Skay and Akiru.

Four of the creatures departing after a good half hour of boredom, any other creatures or people during that time considered somewhat more sensible or fortuous in avoiding the Necrotaurs as Skay had failed. Arcana though was always about consequences, all her failed attempts at casting had always been because the Draconess hadn't considered just how something would react to the given spell. Well, mostly, any Druid or Druidess of some skill would've pointed out that Skay really should've been mroe careful with herself.

Her arcana could only do so much, at least at her given knowledge and skill. Expecting anything more than failure was a given, though later onwards there really was no such excuse as being out of her depth if her studies progressed the more.

Another hour and a half, just as Skay's Vis was about as suitable as an Initiates did another three of the creatures draw away in search of something else a little more interesting and edible. But that left the last, probably the weakest in the pack and being about five feet in length and built like a rotweiler and a wolf hybrid. Drool and spittle flecking it's maw as it continued to growl at Skay as it watched and waited. Perservance was something found within this Necrotaur it would seem even if the others were lacking. But the Forest of Light, here and now with an Arcane Glade so close by was rejuvinating Skay's Vis at a consistantly higher rate than normal too. In all, as if the Draconess had cast a single Apprentice spell this brightening and nothing more.

[Skay Ravendi]

Boredom. That was evident not only in the hounds but in the draconess herself. She had no wish of leaving her lovely circle though, not while so many fangs were around. Two candlemarks had to pass while almost all necrotaurs ran away out of sight. Stretching her head she went back to Akiru who calmed down after the crashes of dogs into the invisible wall ended. The stallion indeed did not like anything who had better teeth than him and were almost the same size as him. He much more preferred to run, instead of fight. Loved to taunt any living being and act all proud and high to the point when he noticed that he was not the one winning. Then it was running instead of fighting and proving his played worth.

The serpentine eyes watched the last necrotour. Had watched the place all the time just in case her beloved feather would fly back. Now it was no wonder why the enchanter did not go into these woods to get feathers for himself. She had to move. It was time. While she could survive just fine by herself having no water or food. She could not survive long with such necrotours around all the time, since she would need sleep. And that was usually the time when spells used to wear off and the caster had no idea that he had to cast the spell again. So she would move before the hounds returned, because for some strange reason she expected them to return to check on her and her horse.

Casting one more Detect spell would reveal if there were any necrotours waiting just a bit away from her vision, dying for her to step out of the circle where they could take her down. Just as well, Skay hoped that the spell would reveal if the pegasi were anywhere in arcanic sight. If there were no other hounds closeby she would proceed to the next spell. And if there were, then it was waiting again. If the hounds were far, Skay chose the Ally with Animal spell, commanding the hound to come closer to the circle, where she would extend her hand to pet his snout and withdraw it back in. "Now... Doggy, you will protect me and my horse understand? If other hounds try to come closer, you try to get them away or fight them off." She commanded Doggy with her voice, thoughts and the spell.

Just in case and for a sign of 'good will', the druidess threw a lump of meat at Doggy. Some sort of half dried beef that she bought in Frigid River before leaving. Then she chose to untie Akiru from the tree. Climbed back up on him, took the reins in her hands, kicked the feet into the stirrups, turned Akiru to the side where the pegasi were seen with the spell or if they weren't then to the direction into which they flew away. If the necrotours were located with the spell as well in the direction which cut in with the pegasi, then she would make a large turn around them.

Riding in a slow pace she finally withdrew from her Circle, keeping an eye on Doggy. She wanted to make Akiru run as fast as he could, but if the hounds would near and he would be out of breath that would be much worse so for now she was riding at a slow pace. With the hound as her guardian and the reins tight that Akiru would not dart into fright of the dog. "Bothersome forests of the Empire. First the giant spiders, now overgrown wild dogs. Next forest I'll be in will have some sort of overgrown... mosquitos."

[Maddyn]

Ally with Animal was one of the more unusual spells in the Druidess' arsonal given that ti didn't actual obey conventional arcanomechanic patterns available to a Druid. Nothing that could be broken up and understood in depth as it exactly how the casting process in itself was done. This was because the spell worked on emotions and sensations that acted on everything from pheromones through to mental suggestions and a firm, unwavering belief that the animal was in the company of not only someone trustworthy but also someone worth protecting and aiding whenever necessary.

Like Animal Form, the spell instead worked behind Skay's mind along with the majority of spells in reality; the arcanomechanics processes Imparted from Master and Mistress until it became a mixture of methodology, inutition and route memory. Little within arcana was absolutely perfect, there was flaws and dilema's at every turn which was why the Ancient Allerians had created the Aethergem in the first place. To make arcana safer and pretty much dumb it down for absolutely every Mortal about so it made sense.

And now Mortals had to use an arcanomechanic system that the Allerians and Dragons used. There was bound to be headaches explaining theories that Immortals could construct over millenia. Not asking questions and prodding holes was the best solution, if only because the answers were often so fethin' weird that the answers did little to salve the concious as thinking it'd even been a merely satisfactory answer let alone comprehensive.

All that aside though, the spell worked. Necrotaurs couldn't be tamed through conventional methods unless the trainer wanted to lose an arm and a leg in the very real sense. But arcana broke a lot of conventional rules and mental processes; and so as Skay left the Circle of Magic it seemed she'd overdone things just a little. To the Necrotaur; she'd wound her own being about the overgrown doggies and tethered it unto herself. In short, to Necrotaurs in general she smelled rather like an old mother Necrotaur that needed protecting and obeying to certain limits. Family, but always elder than other male Necrotaurs as otherwise there'd be some rather uncomfortable situations involving her leg come mating season.

OOC:
Necrotaur is yours from hence onwards, will only obey Basic commands and definetely would require training if only so it doesn't try and bite people's limbs off if they come too close to Skay.

Cheers, Maddyn

[Skay Ravendi]

So, everything worked more or less and Doggy obeyed. That was enough. However Skay was torn apart to searching for the last feather and simply darting out of the forest, where she would not meet yet another gang of necrotaurs. This forest was dangerous and while she didn’t fear danger, getting wounded or even dying, unless it involved drowning, she feared a different thing. Which was Akiru getting hurt. She was a druidess after all and while she refused to pray to Carmelya or believe in the goddess in any kind of sense, she still was a druidess. And one which supposedly was unbound, then bound and unbound again by Carmelya. Or so her master had told. She refused to believe that though. Of course she did believe that, when it happened, but then she learned more about arcana and found a few reasons which could make the whole Carmelya thing sound like a simple illusion. She wished it to be an illusion.

However gods aside she was a dedicated druidess. Usually it meant only dedicated to arcana, learning all the spells and using them for her own good, be it money, simple comfort or satisfied curiosity, it was only for her own good. She so far had done nothing… ‘good’ for Carmelya’s nature or any other stuff like the tree hugging that elves did. To Skay being a druidess mean having arcana in her talons, not helping a poor flower and the like. Except for animals. Those she loved. And trees… well she loved them too. But animals came first and whenever she could, she tried not to hurt them. Ones that were her familiars, like Akiru, the draconess was ready to protect with her life. If anything she protected nature because she loved nature, not Carmelya. She used arcana to bend nature, plants and animals for her own use, but fought fiercely for their safety from harm.

If it had been Carmelya who had bound her in the middle of her initiate training at the exact second when she thought that the goddess did more harm to nature than help, then that only made the draconess dislike the goddess more. What else could have struck her from inside giving her a feeling of godly power at the moment she thought too much about Carmelya and her training, was quite hard to figure out. But there were possibilities. Her eyes reverted to the necrotaur. Why did Carmelya create that creature? It was after all by Orion’s explanation the goddess belonging. All nature and all animals belonged to the goddess and were her creations. That was the thought the draconess refused to accept. That was why she was forced to pray to regain casting abilities. So she had prayed. To regain druidism. Not to change her ideals. And so she got them back, with another feeling of a god visiting her essence and her master telling her that she was out for a long time, while it felt no longer than two minutes.

No. Necrotaurs could not be Her creations. And even if they were, then they were no longer Hers, because the goddess did not take care of her creations. She forgot about them. Just like Cyraxians forgot about their creations. The draconess watched the necrotaur, who paced next to her and Akiru. These creatures were hungry, these creatures would die, just like so many that were killed by allerians be it for food or protection, or anything else. The goddess would do nothing to stop that. They were no longer her creations if they ever had been. If anything Skay would not let anyone hurt the animals. No two legged would hurt those she loved near her. Too many had died because of her. Two much guilt was on her already. If Akiru would end up hurt in this forest then it would be her fault for leading him in here. She could not let that happen. Even here her thinking was flawed and confused. The worst was that she knew that. And yet… Skay needed the feather…

The draconess sighed, warm air escaping from her nostrils. She was riding in the direction of the feather which floated away. Maybe it did not fly away far and she would stop it on a bush or high on a tree branch, or even on the ground. The spell had not showed anything curios, no necrotaurs, no pegasi. The druidess looked up into the sky, trying to determine which candlemark it was and how much time she had till dusk, when she would have to find a place to camp, whether she wanted that or not. Stupidity. Why was she on this quest anyway? Wings and burning mane for Akiru? A sudden shook of her head. She really did not need this, nor did Akiru. So he would have wings and would look all dandy and stuff. And what of it? Stupidity. All that it was it was stupidity. She could have asked for something reasonable from the gnome. But nooo… she had to ask the first thing that came to her mind, which sounded totally… insane at the moment. Skay buried her head in her hands for a few moments, releasing the reins. Then she opened her eyes again, her arms descended onto Akiru’s large neck and hugged it a little bit. ”Go wherever you wish.” If she would find the feather – wonderful. If not, then the bet with the gnome would be lost, but that was definitely not the end of the world either way. ”Still… having you with wings and burning mane would be neat, aye?”