{"id":883,"date":"2014-02-28T14:47:27","date_gmt":"2014-02-28T19:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/?p=883"},"modified":"2014-02-24T14:56:35","modified_gmt":"2014-02-24T19:56:35","slug":"wingless-dragon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/2014\/02\/wingless-dragon\/","title":{"rendered":"Wingless Dragon"},"content":{"rendered":"

      Today\u2019s snippet, titled \u201cWingless Dragon\u201d, is a piece I wrote about my PC in Mark’s Pathfinder Campaign.
\n      Be forewarned, there are mature themes and naughty language below.
\n– \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –
\n      \t\u201cOh, I think that\u2019s a lovely idea!\u201d
\n      \tNyx rolled her eyes.
\n      \t\u201cYou\u2019re such a big, strong man, after all, I\u2019m sure it will be no problem for you!\u201d
\n      \tNyx pursed her lips to hold back the surge of bile.
\n      \t\u201cI am just super excited to be here! Oh, Nyx, do you mind terribly if I go ahead of you here?\u201d
\n      \tNyx forced a pleasant smile onto her lips and nodded benevolently. The new girl, Kyra, bobby by way of acknowledgement and stepped past her. The little thing was all bubbles and light, perky and pretty and graceful as any jungle cat.
\n      \tNyx disliked her on sight.
\n      \tBut that wasn\u2019t fair to Kyra; it wasn\u2019t her fault that Adelind had gotten herself enveloped in that damned mirror just when Nyx had started to warm to the prickly dhampir\u2019s chilly personality. Fortunately, Marcus had not followed her. The Old Ones alone knew what sort of hell lurked beyond the shimmering silver glass. Of all the objets d\u2019art<\/em> they had come across since entering Ip, none had escaped the eons unscathed. None, save this single, enormous mirror.
\n      \tWhy in like, all the freaking Hells did she have to touch it? Stupid!<\/em>
\n      \tAnd now they were cursed with this eyelash-batting-princess, dancing about with those blades as if she were some frilly, foofy little bard. A Sarenraen-type. Nyx chuckled to herself, following the group up the corridor. She knew that was not true though; the girl may seem sweet, but there was murder in those lavender eyes and Nyx was not fooled by the act.
\n      \tThey came to a room that split off in two identical halls; its walls were lined with ancient baskets and hooks from which hung the moth-eaten remnants of what appeared to be fluffy robes. Above the opening of each door, words were scrawled in ancient Azlanti and Nyx was pleasantly surprised to find that none of the others could read her mother tongue.
\n      The right read \u201cWomen\u201d, or more literally, \u201cFemales\u201d, and the other, \u201cMen\u201d. Marcus and Kyra went right, leaving Hefe and Rikk to the left door. Someone called back that there was a huge bathing chamber below.
\n      \u201cI imagine this was an amazing bath-house, you know, before,\u201d Sarey was saying. She and Nyx had hung back to await reconnaissance before moving into the unknown. \u201cAll these sea creatures look sort of\u2026 strange though, right?\u201d
\n      She paused, glancing around. \u201cYeah, they\u2019re like, not quite right.\u201d
\n      \u201cLet\u2019s go down. I don\u2019t hear any screaming yet.\u201d
\n      Nyx smirked, nodding. The two of them sauntered into the bathing chamber and took a long moment to look around. There were statues in here, a line of big, beautifully rendered figures. Nyx stood before the central one, her nose wrinkling in disgust.
\n      \u201cLamashtu,\u201d she whispered. She had recognized the bloated, pregnant female immediately. All of the Mother of Monsters\u2019 iconography was repulsive, filled with demonic, twisted offspring crawling from betwixt her thighs. \u201cIck.\u201d
\n      \u201cC\u2019mon, Nyx,\u201d Sarey shuddered, also aware of the identity of the goddess portrayed in the stonework. \u201cThey\u2019re heading out and I don\u2019t think you want to be left alone in the dark with this nasty bitch.\u201d
\n      \u201cSeriously.\u201d
\n      A few – or many, Nyx had long since given up paying attention – steps later, they turned into a hall that opened into a vast chamber. The ever-present mist still clung to the ceiling, but as Sarey sent her sickly swamp lights out into the room everyone gasped.
\n      \tA trill of pleasure pricked at her secret places as gold and silver and platinum, more than she could hope to estimate, glimmered in the distance. It was the single most gorgeous thing she had seen and she had to remind herself to breathe.
\n      \t\u201cIts like, a dragon\u2019s hoard,\u201d she murmured to herself, so quietly that not even Sarey at her side could make out the words. \u201cI want it.\u201d
\n      \tHefe was moving into the room with Rikk, the pair moved slowly and methodically, painfully aware that where there was evidence of one trap, there was likely to be others.
\n      Suddenly, movement in the back corner caught every eye. Nyx had stepped into the chamber, her gaze locked upon the gilded pedestal there, when a line of magma illuminated the entire room with a hot, orange glow. A creature unlike anything Nyx had ever seen spewed it forth and though Hefe and Kyra managed to evade the worst of it, Marcus took the full brunt of it and was rocked.
\n      Their half-hearted defense lasted mere moments; Hefe had fallen, but Sarey, in a fit of bravery that was uncharacteristic, ran forward into the dragon-thing\u2019s reach to help him. Marcus was wounded – scorched almost beyond recognition – and even the spritely new girl had been injured.
\n      For herself, she had been prepared to flee, and though she would never admit it, sheer terror nearly made her moisten her underthings. Rarely, even with all the awful things she had experienced since joining up with Mysterious Stranger\u2019s comrades, had she been so utterly unmanned by anything but in that instant, all she could think of was never seeing Dae again, leaving Sapphire behind, and never reaching a pinnacle of power that would allow her to travel amongst the stars with her astral lover.
\n      \t\u201cYour Majestic Highness, is there-\u201d Marcus\u2019 rumbling voice caught in his throat, a byproduct of the agony he was in after being so badly burned, \u201cIs there not a deal to be made? Our lives, for- say, ten percent of our wealth?\u201d
\n      \tThe wingless dragon peered down at him with angry, burning eyes. Its serpentine neck extending to allow it to capture each person\u2019s gaze in turn. She could feel it appraising her with an alien intelligence and she cringed.
\n      \t\u201cForty.\u201d
\n      \tIt will bargain! <\/em>She thought, and hope surged up from her belly. An instant later she nearly wretched at the realization that in exchange for their lives, it wanted an enormous percentage of their belongings.
\n      \tMarcus was emboldened by the dragon\u2019s reply and stood straighter. \u201cTwelve.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cThirty-five.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cFifteen percent.\u201d
\n      \tA long moment as it considered, flicking its tongue disconcertingly. Nyx wondered if it could taste their money somehow; was he estimating how much they were worth?
\n      \t\u201cThirty.\u201d
\n      \tThe big dhampir shook his handsome head. \u201cTwenty-two.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cTwenty-five.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cTwenty-five,\u201d Marcus said. He glanced back at his companions. Nyx was not sure how everyone else felt, but some dark part of heart wanted to scream that the bastard could keep the damned dwarf but he wasn\u2019t going to get a copper groat of her coin. \u201cAgreed. Twenty-five percent of our coin.\u201d
\n      \tThe beast laughed and its great head wove side-to-side. \u201cNo. Twenty-five percent of everything.\u201d
\n      \tNyx gripped the pendant at her throat so tightly that its sharp points drew pinpricks of blood. No way, not a freaking chance. That thing is never getting its hand on my things! And the deck – never! NEVER!<\/em>
\n      \t\u201cThree days. Bring me my tribute in three days, or I shall hunt you to the ends of the earth and extract the price from your pathetic hide.\u201d
\n      \tEdging out of the room, grateful to be alive but absolutely horrified at the way negotiations had progressed, Nyx wanted to throttle Marcus. Then, he opened his mouth again.
\n      \t\u201cIs there any place you cannot go, Your Highness?\u201d
\n      \t\u201cNo.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cIs there any foe who has vexed you, whom we can kill for you? As tribute.\u201d
\n      \tA hissing pause. \u201cThere is a bastard copper somewhere nearby; bring me his head.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cAnd-\u201d
\n      \t\u201cThree days,\u201d it growled. \u201cNow go.\u201d
\n      \tNyx pursed her lips until they were a bloodless slit in her porcelain face.
\n      \tThree days. Twenty-five percent. And another fucking dragon\u2026 this day can NOT get any worse.<\/em>
\n      \tSomehow, the instant the thought crossed her mind, Nyx regretted it. She knew she had just jinxed herself.
\n      \tShit.<\/em>
\n– \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –
\n\"Signed,
\nNote: Image is “Coins” by (mzacha) from SXC.hu<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Today\u2019s snippet, titled \u201cWingless Dragon\u201d, is a piece I wrote about my PC in Mark’s Pathfinder Campaign.       Be forewarned, there are mature themes and naughty language below. – \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –       \u201cOh, I think that\u2019s a lovely idea!\u201d  … <\/p>\n

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