-Raeg'n-
She tried not to shift as the Woolf expanded an eerie quiet between them. Bold, fearless. That is how she wanted to be, even if she knew intimately what a large male could do. How they could hurt and bring pain. Doubt slithered into her as she stood frozen, watching him. Waiting. Could she trust him to hold a bargain? Or would he just turn on her once he had what he came for?
Like painted steel, a pale mare with an edge to her made an approach. Young, amber eyes studied much older ones, wiser ones. The woman almost looked delicate, and yet there was a huntress in those eyes, a deadly grace in her movements. Raeg'n took note to learn this as well in the future, to be so smoothly threatening in a simple walk. Or was it only she that sensed the mare's hidden blades?
The woman spoke, her voice as silky-sharp as her balance. Prague.
"Ancient ones like me tend to sleep for years after becoming dragons," she finished. Raeg'n's brow tightened faintly, too young and unschooled to understand ideas of legend. Her gaze moved slowly back to the Woolf, measuring his reaction to these words. No effect. Only staring back at her. She schooled her face to match his just as another joined the gathering. A quick glance over him for now, then the Woolf spoke.
"I am not accustomed to striking a bargain when I am being led into it blindfolded. But I have no interest in pretending. My magic is worth a great deal to me."
There was a brief pause. Then he spoke again, of knowledge of the cosmos. She held back a growl of frustration, gritting her teeth. They both spoke in riddles, of things she would surely know had she not been forced to raise herself. Eternal sleeps and dragons, cosmos. All tricks and riddles, games to play on an ignorant child.
The red male made it simple for her. Anything at all was hers. Relief. She looked to each of them with a hard stare, trying not to display her ignorance. With toneless, blunt words she split the air between the first two, Woolf and Prague.
I don't understand what these things are, she admitted honestly. She included the blood-red as she continued. Above all, I wish to learn to fight, to protect. And to win. Survive. I will take this from each of you in exchange for your magic.
Are you up to this task, or is there something else you have for me?
Like painted steel, a pale mare with an edge to her made an approach. Young, amber eyes studied much older ones, wiser ones. The woman almost looked delicate, and yet there was a huntress in those eyes, a deadly grace in her movements. Raeg'n took note to learn this as well in the future, to be so smoothly threatening in a simple walk. Or was it only she that sensed the mare's hidden blades?
The woman spoke, her voice as silky-sharp as her balance. Prague.
"Ancient ones like me tend to sleep for years after becoming dragons," she finished. Raeg'n's brow tightened faintly, too young and unschooled to understand ideas of legend. Her gaze moved slowly back to the Woolf, measuring his reaction to these words. No effect. Only staring back at her. She schooled her face to match his just as another joined the gathering. A quick glance over him for now, then the Woolf spoke.
"I am not accustomed to striking a bargain when I am being led into it blindfolded. But I have no interest in pretending. My magic is worth a great deal to me."
There was a brief pause. Then he spoke again, of knowledge of the cosmos. She held back a growl of frustration, gritting her teeth. They both spoke in riddles, of things she would surely know had she not been forced to raise herself. Eternal sleeps and dragons, cosmos. All tricks and riddles, games to play on an ignorant child.
The red male made it simple for her. Anything at all was hers. Relief. She looked to each of them with a hard stare, trying not to display her ignorance. With toneless, blunt words she split the air between the first two, Woolf and Prague.
I don't understand what these things are, she admitted honestly. She included the blood-red as she continued. Above all, I wish to learn to fight, to protect. And to win. Survive. I will take this from each of you in exchange for your magic.
Are you up to this task, or is there something else you have for me?