It was like floating inside himself.
A sudden separation of body and soul, flayed one from the other with the sharpest of knives. He had been set loose inside himself, still contained but not connected. The great beast that had fought so long for control raged at the realization that it had been torn from him so quickly, by the very one who'd enabled him to take it.
A voice echoed around him. Her voice. The scrawny witch who'd snared him here. She was whispering, always whispering, and the sound filled the spaces he was trying to occupy. Incorporeal teeth snapped at the intangible sound, as the world that had been so far away resolved once more.
Only it wasn't the world he'd been expecting. It was not the tumbled stone and scrubby plants of the mountain he saw. The new landscape was an alien thing. Walls, flat and grey soared above him, away from him in every direction. He had never seen walls so flat and smooth. Yet he could not touch them. There was no body to touch with, no claw to scratch, no tail to lash. He was a soul alone, drifting through this endless puzzle while she sifted through all that he was.
Up or down, forward or backward, it was all the same. No matter which way the dragon-spirit prowler, there was no rhyme or reason to the layout of the walls. Still he could feel her, the press of another soul in an already crowded body. His body. Not hers, not anybody else's. His. The snarling beast raged at the imprisonment, for that was what it was. No better than the soul-bonds Santana had placed on him, all the more frustrating for their elaborate nature.
On the edges of his perception, the beast felt her move. Felt the lungs that had been his take a heady breath and the eyes that blinked in wonder of dragon sight. It was all of it taken unwillingly from him, these sensations that grazed the furthest reaches of his conscious. A savage desecration of free will.
And something else, that twinged and twisted at the bottom of his mind. Insistent, curling feeling that would not go away. It tugged at the nothingness of him, a thread of a lead that seemed as likely to snap as it was to pull him along. Glowering at the impossible walls, claws leaving no marks where they passed, he stepped steadily along, following the pull that was at the least, not her. It faded and strengthened in turns as he moved. Each identical corridor that passed was another disappointment, the trap a cleverly thought out one.
How much time passed? It was impossible to say. There was no true light, no passing of the sun and moon. What seemed like days of wandering could have been mere seconds in the mind. Every so often, the rumbling beast would swipe at a wall, testing for weakness he was growing desperate to find. His bodiless paws were rebuffed without contact. The impotence served only to stoke the anger he felt growing hot.
Miles of labyrinth passed beneath him, so it felt, the walls never changing in their structure. The tugging of one soul to another had grown quietly more insistent. Without thinking why, his pace increased, featureless corridors falling away until at last, something changed. A pulsing, beating warmth that seemed to emanate from one small stretch of the ground. It brightened as he drew near. Nearly on to of it he paused, watching a shadow move with deliberate slowness beneath the flat surface he stood on.
Like a whale beneath the ice, the shadow slid. It was mesmerizing and haunting, the hook of connection keeping the dragon securely in place. The lazy motion held his attention fully, and it was with a jolt he lurched when the shadow suddenly shifted direction. Fast as lightning, it slammed upward, the force of it echoing through the dragon's life force. He snarled in surprise, more than ready to battle whatever came his way.
The shape waited a moment, and then repeated the upward surge, the violent blow making the air sing with energy. Hair-thin marks began to spiderweb through the glowing surface. A wicked grin ribboned through him.
When the shadow began its frantic surge again, the thunderous beast rose as high as the damned prison would allow, and crashed down once more with every ounce of power he could muster. The brilliant fractures spread beneath him like too-thin ice.
Once more, once more, the shadow and the beast dove in tandem. The plain between them splintered with an all mighty smash that sent ripples of hot white light spinning in every direction, pulses of energy that could not be ignored. It was dragon-magic. The kind of power that was born in flame and fire, tempered with iron and stone. It was what he had used to incarcerate his other self when the chance had risen.
When the surge of power ebbed, beast and shadow looked upon each other. It was a kind of novelty, to see each other bound in their true forms. Dragon and horse, each separate, each feeling the pull to be joined once more. Santana looked upon the gleam of dragon-soul, the piece of him that had never quite fit. It was no larger than his horse self now, no more intimidating. The energy of it was erratic and unfocused, no matter how powerful.
What the dragon saw was quite the opposite.
Santana was a smaller flame besides his inferno. Close, and compact, a concentrated force driven to such nimble form by a lifetime of battling for control. They had so long been like two magnets held together with like poles facing, every moment a fight to snap apart. In a sense, they had gotten their wishes answered, only to find the results an imbalance that currently threatened to end them both.
"This would not have happened if you hadn't locked me away." The pale stallion admonished. The dragon grinned.
It might have. I did no more than return your gift of years. That the witch was there to take advantage was... unfortunate.
The smiling beast took pleasure in the irritation Santana displayed. Still, there was a fact that neither of them was in a position to dispute currently.
"Be that as it may." The blue-white light of Santana drummed a steady beat. "We will both of us be finished if she has her way. This body was crowded enough with just you and I. I'm afraid that means..." He paused, loathing the words he must say. "We have to work together on this."
The dragon's humor turned dark at the words, though he knew it was the truth. He had wandered enough to know there was no weakness he could exploit.
What do you suggest?
Santana looked long and hard at the walls that surrounded them. He could not touch them, could not pass through them.
"It's like this everywhere?"
Yes
"Wretched girl."
Eat her
"Tempting as that sounds, we have to take our body back first."
Santana moved along one wall, came back the other way. An idea dawned slowly on him.
"Can she hear us?"
Perhaps. She whispered when she worked her spell, dropped me here. I could hear her then.
Tana nodded, hopeful.
"I want to try something." He began, looking upward. "You are strong. I am steady. I think together we might be able to make life very uncomfortable for her." He approached the dragon soul, felt his own spirit fizz as they grew close. The power of the dragon was immeasurable. The kind of force that had always frightened him. Now, it had to work with his own tenacity to save them both.
They touched, and sparks flew. A high pitched keening filled the space as the two souls merged, louder and louder with every passing moment. It was the kind of noise that split ear drums, that shattered glass. Louder still until it clawed at the very fiber of their beings. Powerful. Unending. And hopefully painful enough that it might expell the witch.
@[Eyas]
A sudden separation of body and soul, flayed one from the other with the sharpest of knives. He had been set loose inside himself, still contained but not connected. The great beast that had fought so long for control raged at the realization that it had been torn from him so quickly, by the very one who'd enabled him to take it.
A voice echoed around him. Her voice. The scrawny witch who'd snared him here. She was whispering, always whispering, and the sound filled the spaces he was trying to occupy. Incorporeal teeth snapped at the intangible sound, as the world that had been so far away resolved once more.
Only it wasn't the world he'd been expecting. It was not the tumbled stone and scrubby plants of the mountain he saw. The new landscape was an alien thing. Walls, flat and grey soared above him, away from him in every direction. He had never seen walls so flat and smooth. Yet he could not touch them. There was no body to touch with, no claw to scratch, no tail to lash. He was a soul alone, drifting through this endless puzzle while she sifted through all that he was.
Up or down, forward or backward, it was all the same. No matter which way the dragon-spirit prowler, there was no rhyme or reason to the layout of the walls. Still he could feel her, the press of another soul in an already crowded body. His body. Not hers, not anybody else's. His. The snarling beast raged at the imprisonment, for that was what it was. No better than the soul-bonds Santana had placed on him, all the more frustrating for their elaborate nature.
On the edges of his perception, the beast felt her move. Felt the lungs that had been his take a heady breath and the eyes that blinked in wonder of dragon sight. It was all of it taken unwillingly from him, these sensations that grazed the furthest reaches of his conscious. A savage desecration of free will.
And something else, that twinged and twisted at the bottom of his mind. Insistent, curling feeling that would not go away. It tugged at the nothingness of him, a thread of a lead that seemed as likely to snap as it was to pull him along. Glowering at the impossible walls, claws leaving no marks where they passed, he stepped steadily along, following the pull that was at the least, not her. It faded and strengthened in turns as he moved. Each identical corridor that passed was another disappointment, the trap a cleverly thought out one.
How much time passed? It was impossible to say. There was no true light, no passing of the sun and moon. What seemed like days of wandering could have been mere seconds in the mind. Every so often, the rumbling beast would swipe at a wall, testing for weakness he was growing desperate to find. His bodiless paws were rebuffed without contact. The impotence served only to stoke the anger he felt growing hot.
Miles of labyrinth passed beneath him, so it felt, the walls never changing in their structure. The tugging of one soul to another had grown quietly more insistent. Without thinking why, his pace increased, featureless corridors falling away until at last, something changed. A pulsing, beating warmth that seemed to emanate from one small stretch of the ground. It brightened as he drew near. Nearly on to of it he paused, watching a shadow move with deliberate slowness beneath the flat surface he stood on.
Like a whale beneath the ice, the shadow slid. It was mesmerizing and haunting, the hook of connection keeping the dragon securely in place. The lazy motion held his attention fully, and it was with a jolt he lurched when the shadow suddenly shifted direction. Fast as lightning, it slammed upward, the force of it echoing through the dragon's life force. He snarled in surprise, more than ready to battle whatever came his way.
The shape waited a moment, and then repeated the upward surge, the violent blow making the air sing with energy. Hair-thin marks began to spiderweb through the glowing surface. A wicked grin ribboned through him.
When the shadow began its frantic surge again, the thunderous beast rose as high as the damned prison would allow, and crashed down once more with every ounce of power he could muster. The brilliant fractures spread beneath him like too-thin ice.
Once more, once more, the shadow and the beast dove in tandem. The plain between them splintered with an all mighty smash that sent ripples of hot white light spinning in every direction, pulses of energy that could not be ignored. It was dragon-magic. The kind of power that was born in flame and fire, tempered with iron and stone. It was what he had used to incarcerate his other self when the chance had risen.
When the surge of power ebbed, beast and shadow looked upon each other. It was a kind of novelty, to see each other bound in their true forms. Dragon and horse, each separate, each feeling the pull to be joined once more. Santana looked upon the gleam of dragon-soul, the piece of him that had never quite fit. It was no larger than his horse self now, no more intimidating. The energy of it was erratic and unfocused, no matter how powerful.
What the dragon saw was quite the opposite.
Santana was a smaller flame besides his inferno. Close, and compact, a concentrated force driven to such nimble form by a lifetime of battling for control. They had so long been like two magnets held together with like poles facing, every moment a fight to snap apart. In a sense, they had gotten their wishes answered, only to find the results an imbalance that currently threatened to end them both.
"This would not have happened if you hadn't locked me away." The pale stallion admonished. The dragon grinned.
It might have. I did no more than return your gift of years. That the witch was there to take advantage was... unfortunate.
The smiling beast took pleasure in the irritation Santana displayed. Still, there was a fact that neither of them was in a position to dispute currently.
"Be that as it may." The blue-white light of Santana drummed a steady beat. "We will both of us be finished if she has her way. This body was crowded enough with just you and I. I'm afraid that means..." He paused, loathing the words he must say. "We have to work together on this."
The dragon's humor turned dark at the words, though he knew it was the truth. He had wandered enough to know there was no weakness he could exploit.
What do you suggest?
Santana looked long and hard at the walls that surrounded them. He could not touch them, could not pass through them.
"It's like this everywhere?"
Yes
"Wretched girl."
Eat her
"Tempting as that sounds, we have to take our body back first."
Santana moved along one wall, came back the other way. An idea dawned slowly on him.
"Can she hear us?"
Perhaps. She whispered when she worked her spell, dropped me here. I could hear her then.
Tana nodded, hopeful.
"I want to try something." He began, looking upward. "You are strong. I am steady. I think together we might be able to make life very uncomfortable for her." He approached the dragon soul, felt his own spirit fizz as they grew close. The power of the dragon was immeasurable. The kind of force that had always frightened him. Now, it had to work with his own tenacity to save them both.
They touched, and sparks flew. A high pitched keening filled the space as the two souls merged, louder and louder with every passing moment. It was the kind of noise that split ear drums, that shattered glass. Louder still until it clawed at the very fiber of their beings. Powerful. Unending. And hopefully painful enough that it might expell the witch.
@[Eyas]