The vortex shone brightly once again, swirling and spinning violently. There seemed to be something strange this time. The vortex lurched and flared in odd directions, and flashes of various colors seemed to appear briefly before disappearing again. It continued this strange behavior for nearly half an hour, drawing anxious stares from various Ahzenai who realized that something was terribly wrong.
Only one Ahzenai in the cavern was smiling.
Embilia grinned and chuckled to herself. She recognized these symptoms as she had been born in just such an unusual flare-up. Embelia was the twin sister to Valcyon, after all. She padded forward to watch the proceedings. The vortex was not meant to bring twins into Ahzen. Multiple Ahzenai in quick succession perhaps, but not at once. She licked her chops, sensing chaos close by.
The vortex gave one last lurch and stretched to a much larger size. Two Ahzenai heads pushed through the center, as if struggling with the vortex itself. Then they were free, expelled forcefully from within. They picked themselves up and shook themselves off. Two sisters, it seemed. Valcyon ran towards them in concern. But the vortex was not finished.
The myriad of colors that had swirled within them before was now replaced by inky black and blood red. The vortex was now smaller, but still churned violently. With a cough, it finally let out another Ahzenai. This one leaped out of the vortex roaring as if in rage or pain -- no one could tell which. He glared at his two sisters and immediately took an aggressive stance, baring his teeth and snarling. The two sisters seemed surprised, but immediately prepared to defend themselves. The black Ahzenai crouched to launch himself at them.
"CEASE!" Valcyon roared. Everyone in Ahzen froze and fell silent. Even the vortex dimmed down to a faint glimmer. Valcyon growled, "There will be no violence here. Do you understand?" He looked around the cavern. "Does everyone understand?" There were several hurried nods and murmurs. "Good," Valcyon continued, "Please welcome Naletha, Persica,...and Sang."
Naletha glanced nervously at her sister. "Well then..." she murmured. She peered at the people around her, protectively edging closer to Persica. "I think this will be interesting, don't you? I just hope that Sang doesn't try anything again. Even if he does though," she paused to lick her sister's ear, "I won't let anything happen to you."
Persica nodded quietly, letting the slightly larger Naletha lick her ear. "These people seem friendly though. I'm sure we'll be alright." She timidly took a step forward. "Can we go lie in the sun?" She looked at Naletha, who nudged her shoulder lovingly. The two sisters made their way to a warm spot of sunlight and lay down to rest from their unusual ordeal.
Sang growled quietly to himself, but stood down. Valcyon was much larger and stronger than he; even he could see that attacking him would be folly. The black Ahzenai padded away into a shadowed corner, glaring at the rest of Ahzen. He reacted violently toward any visitors, and never uttered a single word between his primal snarls.
Embelia grinned. The vortex giving birth to multiple Ahzenai was an extremely rare occurrence -- and rightfully so. In this situation, the vortex often seemed to miss something in one of the Ahz -- something important. Embelia herself was a victim. She too stayed in the shadows, watching for who would dare approach this fractured Ahzenai.
These will be judged on Saturday, March 2nd. And it will actually be on that date this time. BI