1x1| Denym and ♠️eidolon♠️

[_Denym_]

Tobias Asiali
location: On the Road

After a few minutes, Tobias felt his horse beginning to tire, and pulled up into a walk. It was going to be a long journey, and he didn't want to exhaust it. He spoke to it idly as he travelled "They didn't give me your name, so I guess I'll name you myself. Feels weird talking to you with no name. Not like It matters to you I guess, but it matters to me... How about.... um.... Wait I don't know if you're male or female. Sasha then. I've always liked that name, and it works for both. Charlotte told me to head for the mountains. Best way to do that is to find the river and follow it backwards. We should hit it in a few hours if I'm going the right way." Tobias rarely travelled far from the Stronghold, but was often alone. Being so far away from any person for a short while was wonderful, and he relished the calm.

Which was soon broken by wind rushing overhead. The trees rustled as something large flew overhead. Tobias spun around in his saddle to see what had caused it, and caught sight of it's tail as it flew overhead. It was a dragon.

[♠️eidolon♠️]

➳Aiko Canmor
female - dragon shifter - location: travelling

Aiko felt a sense of relief course through her once she was up in the air. Just the freedom of being able to soar.. it was undescribable. Especially after being cooped up for so long. Let’s see here then... she was told to head to the mountains since apparently that was where the power readings that the guild had found were strongest. Easy enough, she should be able to reach there in a couple hours if the air current stayed true.

She was broken out of her trance by a horse’s neigh somewhere below her. Huh. Aiko flicked an ear, doubling back in a quick loop to get a read of what was going on. It seemed that the horse had a rider, one with The Blessed’s crest on their bag. Ugh. It looked like they might have been going her way too. She didn’t hang around for long, riders usually meant trouble, but she did let a roar rumble out from her chest before she left in a quick attempt to perhaps startle the horse into bolting and hindering the rider’s mission.

[_Denym_]

Tobias Asiali
location: On the Road

The dragon was not happy. The growl rumbled through the forest, Tobias felt it in his chest. Sasha froze underneath him. Oh no. He had a moment to steal himself before the horse bolted. It was all he could do to cling on as it went tearing through the forest, it's panic so intense he could almost smell it. Suddenly it stopped with such little warning that he was thrown from the saddle, and crashed harshly onto the forest floor. He lay still for a moment and let his magic heal him, the weak glow lighting up the shade cast by the trees behind him. Behind him? not around him? he looked up, still glowing, and saw the river coursing in front of him.

"haha! good horse, Sasha! Would have been better if you hadn't stopped quite so quickly, but you got to the river at least..." he approached the snorting horse, holding his hand out to calm it. He stroked it's nose and held it's bridle for support as he finished healing. "god, I hope I don't run into that thing again. Looked like it was heading to the mountains, but... well, we'll see" He hauled himself back into the saddle and urged Sasha into a walk as he broke into his saddle bags and ate his fill.

[♠️eidolon♠️]

➳Aiko Canmor
female - dragon shifter - location: travelling

She huffed out an amused snort as the horse bolted. Sure it probably sped things up for the rider but eh, she got a good laugh out of it at least. She beat her wings to speed herself up instead of keeping at her lazy glide, eyes on the mountain. It would be actually locating the damn power source that would be the hard part. She’d do it though, more for her sense of pride than anything else.

Aiko flew for about an hour more before deciding to take a pitstop. She felt hungry anyway. The beast fell back into a silent glide near the tree tops, listening out for any potential prey. She heard the sluggish steps of a boar soon enough. That would do just fine. She swooped down, holding the boar down with a large claw and tearing into her meal. She wouldn’t stop for long, she had places to be after all.

[_Denym_]

Tobias Asiali
location: On the Road

After a few hours of riding, Tobias could see the mountains rising in the distance. "we're getting there Sasha!" he yelled.

He hadn't thought about how exactly to find this power. Or what it was. Or how to bring it back. Or.... anything really. He hoped it might give off an aura that increased his power by proximity, which would make it much easier to find. Harder to use though, he supposed. He hoped that the dragon just happened to be heading in this direction and wouldn't cause him grief. Being able to fly, it would be much faster than him if that was its destination. He frowned. "how you feeling Sasha? ready for a run" the horse, of course, gave no reply. ".... ok, that's a yes." and they did.

[♠️eidolon♠️]

➳Aiko Canmor
female - dragon shifter - location: mountain

It was about an hour later when Aiko finally landed on a thin strip of the mountain, having shifted to a more humanoid form to make traversing the tight spaces on the mountain easier. There was this sort of veil of power that struck her as soon as she landed. It was hard to describe, something in her core that simply made her feel more powerful for lack of a better word. This was definitely the place that she needed to be.

She tucked her wings to her sides and was off, following the thrum of power that seemed to eminate from somewhere. To her credit she only almost fell a couple of times. Her tail flicked back and forth as she searched, a small growl of annoyance slipping out every now and again. She really wasn’t patient enough for this kind of thing.

[_Denym_]

Tobias Asiali
location: Mountain

Night was falling when Tobias reached the mountain. "no sign of the dragon, Sasha." he looked around in the failing light, trying to figure out where the best place to begin searching was. Surely it couldn't just be lying around out here? He felt something inside him, similar to how he felt when he healed. He must be on the right track at least.

Night had fully fallen as Tobias and Sasha came upon a cave in the mountain. Thanks to the darkness, he could make out an incredibly faint glow. So pale that he was sure he was imagining it. He dismounted and pinned Sasha's reins under a rock, hoping it was enough to convince the horse not to wander off, but knowing it'd do nothing if it spooked. He started into the cave, unsheathing his knives as he did so.

The darkness pressed in around him. There was definitely a faint light, but not enough to see by. He ran his knife over his forearm and used the healing glow as a makeshift torch. As the glow lit up the room, he heard a clatter of rocks. He was not alone here.

[♠️eidolon♠️]

➳Aiko Canmor
female - dragon shifter - location: mountain

Night had already begun to fall and Aiko was still on the search, having taken a quick hunting break to take out her frustration. The darkness wasn't all bad though. There was a soft glow eminating from one of the many caves that lined the mountain, just strong enough for her eyes to pick up. She flicked an ear and made her way inside of the cave in hopes that it would hold what she was after.

The darkness in the cave was almost suffocating. She could see well enough in the dark to vaguely make her way through the twisting caverns but it wasn't great by any means. Still, the further she pushed on the greater the glow became and the more of the pull she felt within her. She was twisting round a tight corner when there was a sudden flash of light from somewhere behind her. Her wings flared in surprise and ended up making some rocks clatter to the floor before they quickly returned to her sides. She wasn't alone. The beast dropped low into a battle stance as she turned to face the way the glow was coming from. Better to get the intruder taken care of before they could jump her from behind.

[_Denym_]

Tobias Asiali
location: Mountain

Tobias waited for his arm to stop glowing. Then thought better of it. His night vision was terrible, what were the odds that the darkness would help him? not great. But if it was some kind of animal, their vision would be much better than his. So he needed light, but was it worth hurting himself to get? if there was a fight, he would need all his strength. In an enclosed space like this, though, he was at a huge disadvantage. He was good in fights due to his speed, he couldn't move around in a place like this. However, if they were hostile, and he called out to them, they might just kill him on the spot. He heard more movement, getting closer. No more time to think, he was a pacifist at heart and trusted his Blessing to get him back to Sasha and safety if needs be.
He took a breath and called out:
"Who's there? I come in peace! I don't want to fight you!"

[♠️eidolon♠️]

➳Aiko Canmor
female - dragon shifter - location: mountain

Aiko stood her ground as the glow from who (or what) ever began to dull and return in strength in a strange pulse. More loose pieces of rock scattered around her as her tail lashed back and forth. If the thing didn’t make it’s presence known soon she would just go in for the attack. They might be signalling for some sort of backup and the more time she wasted the worse it would be.

Before she had the chance to pounce though, a voice rang out. No battle for her then. That was probably a good thing to be fair though, since she barely fit in the cave as it was. A fight would surely tear the thin membrane holding her wings, and those were a pain to heal. Aiko opted to respond with a low growl instead of an actual response. Perhaps the other would think she was just an animal and leave.