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once a dream did weave a shade; mordred
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Posted on February 23, 2013 at 06:07:52 PM by Gaiane & Pallas


Laughter was not a sound that frequently rang through the marble columns of the Pantheon. Tsi’s grumblings and sighs, Gar’s shouts of anger and frustration, and almost as often, his grunts and Thyri’s gasps of pleasure were also heard. Gaiane was used to these sounds; this was her world. Her mother was highly involved in the girl’s learning, and thus usually Gaiane would be found reading yet another ancient scroll in the courtyard, her giant familiar playing with an unfortunate rabbit or deer or – more amusing for the dragon – a simpering scribe who was running late. The pair had spend so much time inside the structure doing as Styx bid while the immortal one brooded and schemed and bugged the originals around Shaman, that Gaiane needed to get out. It wasn’t healthy to be this involved in mental tasks without breaks to play.

Gaiane had made her bed that morning, just as she did every morning, but today she tucked the day’s scroll work behind her pillow where hopefully it wouldn’t be found and darted out to the courtyard, giggling like a young child with a plot to get a cookie. The foreign sound caused several heads to turn before those with business for the deities continued on their way. It wasn’t a well thought out plan, really. Styx would know the scroll was in the room and that Gaiane was not, but the girl didn’t care. She needed to get out and explore the lands of Shaman like all the other fairies did.

Too large for the sleeping quarters, Pallas slept under the stars on clear nights and in a covered area of the courtyard when the weather was foul. She met Gaiane on the steps of the temple and stretched her wings wide. “You really must learn not to giggle so when you wish to be undiscovered. It’s most unbecoming and will attract the attention of everyone around.” A snort in the cool morning air resulted in both a puff of steam and emphasis on the dragon’s belief in her own correctness.

Gaiane simply smiled however and ran her fingers through the white feathers on the great dragon’s chest, calmer now that she was out of the stone building that was literally a cage. Even the shape was reminiscent of a prison cell. “I was not that loud, Pallas,” Gaiane mumbled at the beast before turning to walk down the steep incline.

“I’m surprised you didn’t wake Kahl from his grave your laughter was so loud.”

It was nice to have the Pantheon so high when all you wanted was to see what was out there, but that view was stale. Seeing shaman like a bird felt like she was above so many people that Gaiane did not want to fly. She wanted to travel and play on foot. Pallas had no such idea.

The white dragon detested the mud covered the slopes of the hill on which the Pantheon sat. She preferred to keep herself clean and well preened rather than covered in grime. However, the shock of Gaiane running headlong downhill did not wear off in time to tell the young fairy off for her foolishness. No, the silly child was halfway down before that happened, so instead she flew after her grumpily.

To keep herself from flipping head over foot at the bottom, Gaiane stretched her wings out to increase the resistance and slow her down, and did that wind rushing between her feathers feel fantastic. With the ground now more horizontal than vertical, Pallas flew off to find herself a snack, leaving the fairy to explore on her own. The ground was still a bit damp here, and across a small field lay the ruins of…. Oh Gaiane had just been tested on this by Styx… the ruins of Shady Labyrinth. The Sebauza ruins.

Glancing back at the alabaster building on the hilltop behind her, Gaiane snorted and turned to jog toward the destroyed city. She hopped happily over a few of the crumbled stones in the arches that marked where doors had stood long ago, and ducked into an old cellar where forgotten bottles of wine had been aging and collecting dust for who even knew how long. She tried and failed to stifle a sneeze as the dust assaulted her nose and hurried back into the open air as Pallas returned with a meal off the moor.

The dragon perched herself on top of a four-way corner of the stony buildings with the pony beside her and every weight shift caused a few pebbles to tumble to the ground by Gaiane. The scent of her familiar’s meal chased away any desire for lunch that the young fairy had and replaced it with nausea. Obviously she knew Pallas had to eat, but it seemed so untasteful to butcher a wild (as far as Gaiane knew) pony rather than to simply have some fully cooked feast brought out.

Turning away from the scent of the blood, Gaiane looked in room after room, trying to work her way through at least this part of the former maze. Clouds passed over the sun, darkening the entire complex of broken stone and weeds and it was only minutes before the first drops from the coming storm fell on the girl. A flash of light and the growling roll of thunder were the only warning Gaiane needed to get herself to a real shelter, not the roofless maze she was in.

But at this point, she had no idea how to get back to the entrance she had used. Was it a left or a right? Where were the dead ends?

“You have wings, genius.”

A helpful comment, but Gaiane had little experience flying in the rain or with her wings wet. They were uncomfortable. But it did give her an idea. While out here running around, why not work on balance as well? There was a ladder one room back that she climbed up to the tops of the remaining walls so she could see the edge of the ruined labyrinth. The dragon flew beside her, just in case the slippery rocks meant to cause the fairy child harm, but Gaiane only slipped twice and caught herself both times before she got to the closest edge.

Braving the long (read: a couple meters) jump to the ground, both fairy and dragon took off as fast as their chosen appendages could carry them toward the castle looming up over them. On the way, Gaiane had the misfortune of sliding straight into a muddy puddle and scraping her thigh, but with the lightning flashing around her as the only real source of light, she picked herself up and rushed between the gates and under cover before she was willing to stop, breathless and with both hair and ruined clothing clinging to her young teenage body. Her mother was a part of court, even if she didn’t use that power often, but Gaiane hoped she would be welcome to the same privilege as she walked down the halls, hardly a presentable sight in the eyes of any true courtier.
fractal by Silvia Cordedda on dA



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